


The Game of Kings

by barbitone



Series: Voltron Fanfiction [53]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Assassination Attempt(s), Drinking, Drugs, Explicit Sexual Content, Games, I guess this is technically a, M/M, Morally Ambiguous Character, POV Sendak (Voltron), Pining, Pre-Canon, Prostitution, Slow Burn, Slutor, Vague mentions of underage prostitution, rough language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-07-23 08:23:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 56,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20005246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbitone/pseuds/barbitone
Summary: Lotor, the useless layabout prince, tricks the honorable Lieutenant Sendak, rising star of the Empire, into being his guard.Lotor is a waste of space, a halfbreed and a slut, the spoiled son of an Emperor who has conquered galaxies. He cheats, he lies, he steals, he sleeps around. He has no worthwhile pursuits to speak of. He has no pursuits at all, it seems, other than his endless games.





	1. Arc I: Kotat

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thank you to [Salt_Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Salt_Queen/) for looking over this for me!
> 
> In the spirit of the fic, I'd like to offer my lovely readers a game. This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing. Let's say- easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment. It has to be an AO3 comment, so I can see timestamps, and so it's fair. A tumblr ask or the like doesn't count.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> The prize is a sketch. Obviously Voltron stuff is fine, but I'll draw OC's and stuff too provided you give me a visual reference. Pls- no more than 2 characters, no gore, but NSFW stuff is fine. So let's play a game :)

* * *

The feast was boring.

All feasts were boring. This one was the most boring one Sendak had been to in a while. Maybe he should have been pleased- he was seated at the head table after all, a place of honor. He was seated to Zarkon’s right, six seats down. The Emperor’s seat was empty, of course- the Emperor did not attend such events. But still, it was meant to be an honor.

He stifled a yawn.

“Bored?” came an insouciant voice from his left. He’d been seated beside the prince, who unfortunately attended such events all the time.

“No, your highness,” Sendak said, forcing himself to be respectful even though it rankled. They were not so far apart in age, but Sendak had earned his standing as a Lieutenant and Lotor had simply been born a prince. It meant nothing. He’d done nothing with it- he shirked his duties, he’d never even served in the military.

There was talk that he didn’t even know how to wield a sword. There was talk that all he did was waste his time drinking and gambling, that he fraternized with prisoners and gladiators, that he spread his legs for anyone who propositioned him. Distantly, Sendak could see the appeal. He was pretty enough, that much was true. But he was lazy and insolent, a useless spoiled boy.

It was an honor, technically, to be seated beside him. Sendak felt it as a slap in the face.

“You don’t have to pretend,” Lotor said with a smirk. “You’re not a very good actor.”

Sendak tightened his lips and stayed silent, stabbing at his steak with a little more vehemence than strictly necessary.

“How about a game?” Lotor suggested. “That might liven things up.”

“I don’t play games,” Sendak bit out, “with boys.”

Lotor laughed, a shockingly pleasant sound. “You misunderstand me, Lieutenant,” he said once he’d calmed. “You see, we’re already playing. We’ve been playing for some time now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’ve had my eye on you for quite a while,” Lotor said thoughtfully, swirling the wine around in his glass. “It’s difficult not to notice someone with your… commanding stature. Your ambition. You’ve been quite successful in your career thus far, how strange that your greatest desire eludes you.”

Sendak frowned as he tried to decipher Lotor’s meaning. It felt like flirtation and a veiled threat rolled into one. His greatest desire was to be awarded his own command, had been for a long time. Too long, he realized with slowly dawning understanding. Most others of his standing would have been promoted by now. He’d petitioned for it three times already, and still he was just a Lieutenant.

“What have you done,” he said, fighting to keep his voice steady. 

“I haven’t done anything,” Lotor said, wide-eyed with false innocence. “Isn’t it terrible how messages can go astray? And oh, the things they say about you… I’m sure they’re not true, but it does make one wonder if you’re really fit for Command.”

So that was it. Lotor had been spreading lies, tarnishing his reputation, making sure his petitions weren’t seen by the Emperor. He curled his hands into fists as he tried to contain his anger. He and Lotor barely knew each other, what slight could he have possibly committed that would have resulted in such a petty attempt to hurt him?

“I see we understand each other,” Lotor said with a smirk.

“Why would you do that?” Sendak managed to ask.

“Isn’t it obvious? I did it for this very moment. I did it so you’d agree to play my game.”

Sendak was furious but he forced himself to take a deep breath. “It seems you don’t need any help playing games.”

“This game is better with a partner,” Lotor smirked. 

Sendak wanted to wipe the smirk off his face but all he could do was keep his hands tightened into fists in his lap.

“If you win, you’ll get what you want,” Lotor said. “You’ll be a big shot Commander out on the front lines. You’d have more glory and fame than you’d know what to do with.”

“And what do you get if you win,” Sendak gritted out.

“I suppose under the circumstances, I could get whatever I like,” Lotor said casually. “Maybe I’ll keep you as my slave.” He glanced over at Sendak’s no-doubt horrified face and burst out into laughter once again. “Calm down, Lieutenant. I know that’s a bargain you’ll never make. But I do have need of you. One of my guards has recently proven unfit. I need to replace him.”

“You want me to be your guard?” Sendak asked incredulously. That wasn’t that much better than being a slave. He thought of running around after the impertinent little slip of a boy, his hair longer than most women’s. It was ridiculous, completely impractical for a fighter. But he wasn’t a fighter. He was a halfbreed runt, and in that moment he had Sendak wrapped around his finger.

“Of course,” Lotor said. “They say you’re the best. My father trains you himself, does he not? They also say you’re an honorable man, and I need someone like that in my service.”

“I thought they said that I was unfit for command.”

“Oh, they say that too,” Lotor said, waving his hand vaguely. “But I’m sure they could be persuaded to stop.” His smile was like the edge of a blade.

Sendak clenched his teeth and set his jaw. “What is the game.”

“It’s more of a wager,” Lotor said, his eyes darkening with something like anticipation, or maybe hunger. “I wager that before this night is done, you’re going to punch Quartermaster Janka right in the mouth.”

Sendak could only blink in shock. “And if I don’t- I win?”

“Yes,” Lotor said. “Simple, isn’t it.”

“Ridiculous.”

Sendak would never assault a Commander, especially not someone as highly ranked as the Quartermaster. It had to be some sort of trick. But then again, all he had to do was not punch someone tonight, something he managed most nights, and then Lotor would stop his efforts to stall his career and he’d finally be awarded his Command.

“I expect it would be easy for you, wouldn’t it?” Lotor asked, raising his eyebrow. “Or are you so much of a brute that you can’t keep your hands to yourself for one night?”

“I agree to your ridiculous game,” Sendak said finally. It was stupid. He had no idea how Lotor expected to win.

Lotor smiled and for a second he seemed practically giddy, almost like a child. And then, of course, he leaned closer and opened his mouth and said one of the most infuriating things Sendak had ever heard.

“You know,” Lotor said conspiratorially, “they say you can’t get it up. Is it true?”

“No,” Sendak bit out.

“How lucky for your future soldiers. I’m sure they’d be gagging for it, from a big strong Galra like you.”

“Are you trying to shock me?” Sendak asked. “I’m in the army. You’re not going to make me angry enough to punch Janka with your little insults.”

“Oh no?” Lotor asked, wide-eyed and the perfect picture of innocence. “I’ll have to try something else.” Without warning he reached out and used his fork to jab Sendak in the thigh.

Sendak jerked and slammed his fist into the table, more from the shock than the pain of it.

“Well now you’re just making a scene,” Lotor said. He had his elbow on the table and he leaned his face on his hand, watching with interest as Sendak pulled the fork out of his flesh with a scowl.

“All you’re doing is making me want to punch _you_ ,” Sendak said.

“I’ll have to make sure to stand in front of Janka,” Lotor grinned lazily. “That way you’ll hit him when I duck.”

Now that his fork was gone he proceeded to eat, insolently, with his fingers. He’d already cut his meat into bite-sized pieces and he took one, dropping it into his mouth before slowly licking the sauce from his fingers, staring at Sendak the entire time.

“You think I’d give you time to duck?” Sendak asked. “I’m a warrior with years of training. What are you?”

“Well,” Lotor said, innocent again. His flip-flopping between moods and personas was giving Sendak whiplash. “They say I’m a whore.”

“Whores get paid.”

“Maybe I should start charging.”

“That might be a more constructive use of your time than baiting me into assaulting a fellow officer.”

Lotor grinned. The little shit was having the time of his life. Suddenly Sendak realized that he wasn’t bored anymore either.

There were still hours to go before the night was over. Lotor needled him endlessly and although Sendak couldn’t deny the mounting frustration threatening to boil over inside him, he wasn’t about to walk across the hall to hit Janka.

He said as much and Lotor only smirked in response. “Of course not. He’ll come right here, to us.”

Lotor flicked his eyes away, across the hall, and Sendak followed his gaze to see it was true. For a second he felt a sliver of doubt, like he was trapped in a web he couldn’t escape. He shoved the thought away ruthlessly. He was a man, a soldier, an officer. He was in control of himself. 

Janka approached with a smirk, swaying on his feet. He was drunk, Sendak realized with annoyance. Disgraceful.

He wasn’t sure if Janka was coming to speak to him or to Lotor beside him, but they both rose respectfully as he approached.

“Prince Lotor,” he said with a nod. “Lieutenant Sendak.”

“What a pleasure to see you, Quartermaster Janka,” Lotor said with a smile. And then he leaned closer to Sendak, swaying as if by accident, pretending to be drunk himself even though Sendak had watched him carefully nursing a single cup of wine the whole night. Lotor set his hand on Sendak’s lower back as though he needed to steady himself and Sendak stiffened, annoyed at the uninvited touch, the easy intimacy of it. He couldn’t back away without making a spectacle of himself and he glanced at Lotor beside him with a scowl.

Janka watched with great interest, his drunken face splitting into a sly smile. “Why, Lieutenant,” he said, his oily tone making Sendak even more annoyed than Lotor’s palm, warm where it was still pressed to his back. “The father _and_ the son? How very enterprising of you. I never would have expected something so… deliciously scandalous from our rising star.”

“What,” Sendak bit out.

“Well, everyone knows about you and the Emperor,” Janka continued matter-of-factly. “Why else would he take such an interest in you if you weren’t bending over for him?”

Sendak’s mind went blank with fury. He couldn’t think straight. “That’s disgusting,” he managed through gritted teeth. “He would never-”

“Oh my,” Janka said with a drunken giggle. “Oh stars, I could have never imagined- I don’t suppose it’s the other way around? Is _he_ the one riding your-”

There was a loud slap of flesh, the thud of a body hitting the floor. Sendak stood in a stupor as he stared at Janka lying unconscious before him. His fist was raised, his knuckles bruised. He was breathing hard as he slowly realized what he’d done. He’d assaulted a superior officer. He could be court-martialed for this, stripped of his rank and thrown in the cells, worse-

There was slow clapping from his left and he turned to see Lotor smirking at him.

 _“You,”_ Sendak hissed, angry all over again.

“Well done,” Lotor said easily. “You’ve just defended my father’s honor as well as your own.” He looked around the room, at all the shocked Galra staring up at the head table. “Quartermaster Janka has had too much to drink,” Lotor announced. “He was being belligerent and Lieutenant Sendak was well within his rights to stop him before he said something… truly unfortunate. We have witnesses to attest to that. But let’s not make a thing of it, I think we’ve all been there, haven’t we?”

There were a few scattered laughs throughout the hall, and just like that the moment was smoothed over.

“Take him away to sleep it off,” Lotor ordered and a few Sentries stepped up to do as they were told.

“I win,” Lotor said and Sendak’s knees gave out. He fell back into his chair, still staring sightlessly ahead. “You’ll report to my quarters tomorrow afternoon,” Lotor said. “Bring your things. I expect this arrangement will continue into the foreseeable future.”

“I need to- request leave from my Commander,” Sendak muttered, too shocked to really believe this was actually happening. He served under Ranveig, there was no way that he’d agree-

“I’ve already taken care of it,” Lotor said flippantly. “And Lieutenant?”

Sendak looked up into his glittering eyes. Lotor bent forward, bringing his lips close to his ear.

“I’m not a boy,” he whispered before pulling back and turning to go.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the spirit of the fic, I'd like to offer my lovely readers a game. This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing. Let's say- easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment. It has to be an AO3 comment, so I can see timestamps, and so it's fair. A tumblr ask or the like doesn't count.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> The prize is a sketch. Obviously Voltron stuff is fine, but I'll draw OC's and stuff too provided you give me a visual reference. Pls- no more than 2 characters, no gore, but NSFW stuff is fine. So let's play a game :)

* * *

Sendak had never been to the Imperial quarters before. He half expected to be turned away by the guards, but sadly he wasn’t. Lotor had his own apartments down a side corridor, on a floor below that of the Emperor’s. Sendak was uneasy as he stood before the doors, but finally he screwed up his courage and pressed his palm to the keypad before stepping through.

The first room was some sort of central chamber, maybe a receiving hall of sorts. There was a sitting area to one side and a dining area to the other, consisting of a table and six chairs. The table was occupied by a disassembled blaster, one of the chairs occupied by a Galra Sendak had never seen before. He moved with the easy grace of a soldier as he cleaned the blaster but he wasn’t in a regulation uniform. He was just wearing a tank top with his army issue pants and boots. Disgraceful.

“So you’re the new one,” the Galra said, not bothering to look up from his work. “Poor bastard.”

“Where is he?” Sendak asked, looking around. There were two doors in the wall to his left, two doors to the right.

“Sleeping,” the Galra said.

“Is that so,” Sendak said coldly. Not only was it past noon, but he could hear muffled groans and cries from his left. Lotor’s bedroom, perhaps.

“My name’s Bogh,” the Galra said. “He mentioned you’d be coming. Sendak, right?”

“You’re the other guard?”

“Yeah.”

There was something like an exultant scream and finally the cries tapered off. For a while there was silence, and then a young man left the room, blushing and disheveled.

“Had a good ride?” Bogh asked with a laugh and the man blushed harder, ducking his head as he rushed out of the room. Sendak memorized his face and filed it away. There was something familiar about him but he wasn’t sure what.

It was strange. From all the rumors he’d expected that Lotor was the one getting fucked, not the other way around. He filed that away too, not sure what to make of it.

“What happened to the other guard?” Sendak asked. “The one I’m replacing?”

“I gutted him,” Lotor said, standing in the doorway of his bedroom. His hair was in disarray and he was wearing a pair of narrow black trousers and a loose white shirt. There were love bites trailing down his neck.

“I don’t imagine a pretty thing like you would be capable of gutting a fish,” Sendak said flatly.

“You think I’m pretty?” Lotor asked, batting his eyelashes as he padded over to the dining table on bare feet. He made himself comfortable on one of the chairs in an insolent sprawl. “Lieutenant- I’m touched.”

“You’re touched a lot,” Bogh snorted. “How was he?”

“Awful,” Lotor moaned dramatically. “I could do with a good cock sucking. Care to provide one?”

“Only if you wash your dick first,” Bogh said good-naturedly. “Though probably not even then.”

“Why did I hire you if you can’t even perform the most basic tasks?”

“For my winning personality.”

The exchange was highly inappropriate and Sendak clenched his teeth so he wouldn’t say something cutting. This was to be his life now, and everything about it was horrible.

“Lieutenant,” Lotor said, turning his attention to him again with a faint frown. “You haven’t brought your things.”

“I’m a soldier, I don’t have _things._ I have my weapons and armor, that’s all I need.”

“About the armor,” Lotor said. “You don’t have to maintain the dress code as my guard.”

“I don’t intend to be here forever,” Sendak bit out. “I’m not letting myself fall into bad habits.” And then, because Lotor was still sitting there like a disheveled strumpet and staring up at him with the most presumptuous expression, he added-

“You sound like a cheap whore.”

“You sound like an old man,” Lotor said, not at all concerned. “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Something on your mind?”

Bogh laughed.

“And you,” Sendak said, turning to him. “You’re disgraceful. Letting him- bring you down to- to- his level. Have some respect!”

Bogh laughed harder.

“He’s a lost cause,” Lotor said with a smirk that turned to something fond. “He’s been my man for… how long now?”

“Too long,” Bogh answered.

“He’s lasted longer than anyone else. We have an arrangement.” Lotor looked up like he was daring Sendak to ask. Sendak wasn’t about to ask, he had no interest in whatever sordid sex games they played. 

“I can smell your disapproval from here,” Lotor said. “The arrangement is quite simple- if someone offers to pay him to betray me, he comes to me and I pay him more. I’ve had to raise his salary four times now. I’m starting to get quite suspicious.”

Bogh snorted and Sendak frowned.

“Luckily for my coffers, I don’t have to worry about that with you, do I- Lieutenant? You’re an honorable man, and you’re bound to me through a gentleman’s agreement.”

“You’re no gentleman,” Sendak said testily. “How long, exactly, do you intend for this bond to last?”

“Until I’m finished with you,” Lotor said, completely unconcerned. “And then, if you’ve served me well and you’re still alive, I’ll make you into a Commander. Maybe I’ll even make you into an Emperor.”

Sendak’s heart skipped a beat. He’d never considered it, he wasn’t even sure he wanted it. But Lotor said it with the casual grace of a promise and suddenly it seemed possible in a way it never had before.

“Don’t say that,” Sendak managed. “That’s-”

“Treason?” Lotor raised an eyebrow. “It’s simply a possibility.”

There was a knock on the door and the man from earlier was back, looking even more frazzled than before.

“Back for another round so soon?” Lotor asked. “Should I be flattered or offended?”

“P-prince Lotor,” the Galra stuttered nervously. “I’m afraid I’ve left behind- I think I left behind my datapad.”

“Is that so?” Lotor asked, all wide-eyed innocence. “Perhaps I’ve seen such a thing. Would this be it?” He pulled a small device out of his pocket and the young man rushed forward to take it, muttering his thanks and apologies.

Sendak watched, annoyed. He realized where he recognized the man from- he was an assistant at Haggar’s lab.

The assistant took his leave and Lotor and Bogh went back to their infuriating banter. This was his life now. The sooner he accepted it the easier the next-

Oh gods. He had no idea how long this would last. Ages. A lifetime.

“Don’t look so glum,” Lotor said. “We’re about to go do something fun. A vacation of sorts, have you ever had one?”

“I’m a soldier,” Sendak said numbly. “We don’t have vacations.”

“How very sad. Well. This will be a treat. We’re going to Vair-Vasal.”

Vair-Vasal, one of the seediest planets in the universe. It was a smuggler’s port full of gambling dens and brothels, crime and disease.

“No wonder you need guards,” Sendak said, and for some reason both Lotor and Bogh laughed.

* * *

Lotor had a mid-size ship of his own and it was glorious. Sendak couldn’t help being impressed despite the decidedly un-Galra design. There were Galra elements, of course, but it was a combination of technologies from many different cultures, all somehow blended together into something amazing. It was fast and stealthy, equipped with heavy weapons. The living quarters were extensive, consisting of multiple public areas and at least four suites, one of which Lotor assigned to him. Idly, Sendak wondered who had designed the ship for him, who had built it.

Lotor was late arriving and he seemed hung-over when he did. There was some sort of hideous creature on his shoulder. It hissed at him when Lotor walked past and Sendak had to fight the strange urge to hiss back.

“What is that thing?” he asked Bogh, following behind and carrying Lotor’s bags.

“His cat,” Bogh said. “Kova. He’s a bastard. Don’t touch him, he’ll claw your face off.”

As far as Sendak was concerned Lotor was also a bastard who’d claw his face off.

The trip to Vair-Vasal took over a week and felt like a lifetime.

For the first few days Sendak held himself apart, still appalled by the familiar way Lotor and Bogh spoke to each other. They played a lot of games. Lotor enjoyed games.

By the third day Sendak was bored. He watched as Bogh threw down a hand of cards in disgruntled defeat and pushed himself away from the table as Lotor tracked him with wounded eyes.

“How about a game of Kotat, Lieutenant?” Lotor asked as he watched Bogh pour himself a drink.

“Don’t play with him,” Bogh grumbled. “He cheats.”

Kotat was a game built around cheating, and Sendak had watched Lotor palm cards often enough as he played with Bogh not to be caught out.

“How about a round of Rum’ka,” he countered, just to be contrary.

“Rum’ka is for drunk sailors,” Lotor said with disdain. “Kotat is the game of kings.”

“Fine,” Sendak said, sitting at the table across from him.

“Do you enjoy games?” Lotor asked as he dealt the cards.

“I enjoy sports. Battle.”

“How very tedious of you,” Lotor murmured, picking up his cards. He rearranged a few while Sendak, pointedly, did not. Kotat was a game where you played your opponent, not your cards. Lotor moved to discreetly slip a card into his sleeve and Sendak reached out to grab his wrist, stopping him. He used the distraction of Lotor’s surprise to palm a card of his own, and then the game truly began.

He won the first round and raised an eyebrow in response to Lotor’s considering look.

“You’re better at this than I thought you would be,” Lotor said.

“I’m better at a lot of things than you think I would be.”

“Brute.”

“Slut.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Bogh grumbled and left the room.

Sendak lost in the end, because it appeared Lotor cheated in ways that weren’t only palming cards. Still, the game had been fun in its own way. Sendak didn’t generally get a chance to play.

Later, at dinner that was shamefully decadent, Sendak took an opportunity of a lull in conversation to look up and stare Lotor down.

“They say you’ve never touched a sword. Is it true?”

Bogh snorted.

“I’ve touched plenty of _swords,”_ Lotor said with a smirk.

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I’ve touched those swords too.”

“Can you fight?”

“What do you think?” Lotor asked, leaning back in his chair. “Can I?”

“If you could, maybe you wouldn’t need to waste your father’s money on guards.”

Lotor laughed. “Are you offering to teach me?”

“I would, if it would bring my stay here to a quicker end.”

“A quicker end. That’s not a request I’m used to getting. I’m more used to-” He threw his head back and pitched his voice towards something high and breathy. _“More! More! Please! More!”_

“Be serious, just once,” Sendak said with a frown. “I could teach you the sword. You should know how to fight- you’re Galra, and a prince.”

“A generous offer,” Lotor said with a strange twinkle in his eye. “Very well. Teach me to fight, brute.”

“Maybe one day I’ll teach you to keep a civil tongue in your head.”

“Unlikely,” Bogh snorted.

* * *

The ship had a training deck, so they had their first lesson the very next day. Lotor held the sword awkwardly and his posture was all wrong, his legs too close together and his shoulders too tight, his sword too low. He was a perfect study in what not to do.

Sendak pointed it out and Lotor shrugged, unconcerned.

“So fix it, Lieutenant.” 

Sendak stepped forward and set his hands on Lotor’s shoulders to adjust them, to Lotor’s hips. He kicked Lotor’s feet further apart and tried not to glory in the prince’s easy obedience. He took him through a few practice forms and Lotor managed to stumble through them without complaint. He wasn’t entirely hopeless, but Sendak knew he had his work cut out for him.

He had a wiry strength to him, he’d felt it when he’d set his hands on Lotor’s body.

“Show me the starting form again,” Sendak ordered.

Lotor did, wrong all over again. Sendak sighed and fixed his stance, careful as he manipulated Lotor’s body, moving him into the correct posture.

“What an excellent teacher,” Lotor murmured. “I wonder what else you excel in?”

“Don’t distract me,” Sendak said, and made Lotor do it all again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example claim: "Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean"
> 
> Current claims/wins:
> 
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official

* * *

Vair-Vasal was just as filthy as Sendak had imagined. On the day they arrived he left his rooms to find a crate waiting for him outside his door containing a particularly fine suit of armor, black with orange accents.

“What is this?” he asked as he watched Lotor licking cream out of a halved fig- his breakfast.

“Your new uniform. I can’t exactly have you cavorting about in the Emperor’s colors while we’re on vacation.”

While they were on a wild planet, he meant, not taken by the Empire just yet.

Sendak put on the armor, oddly angry about the fine workmanship and excellent fit. He could tell just by looking that it was higher quality than what he’d had before, more advanced. Somehow that made him angry. He looked… _better_ in it, too. More imposing. More threatening. He liked it.

He hated that he liked it.

Lotor was a waste of space, a halfbreed and a slut, the spoiled son of an Emperor who had conquered galaxies. But the armor he provided was the best that Sendak had ever had, and it rankled. The useless tart of a prince should not outshine his father in any respect, it simply wasn’t right.

He spent his day trailing Lotor through the market as he bought useless trinkets and haggled with vendors. He drank, too- starting in the early afternoon. It angered Sendak, that the son of the Emperor could be so spoiled and carefree.

By the time they made it back to the ship in the evening Lotor was slurring his words and stumbling around, and he retreated to his rooms at once.

Sendak thought it was over. He ate dinner, he trained, he slept. He was woken by an urgent message on his communicator, a set of coordinates and a single word- _now._

He rose and stumbled into his armor as fast as he could, cursing all the while.

Somehow, Lotor had wandered off. Bogh was nowhere to be found and it was up to Sendak to retrieve their wayward prince.

It took nearly half an hour but he reached the coordinates at last- a bar, of course. He stepped inside and scanned the dark room until he saw a glimpse of white hair past a curtain in one of the VIP areas. He strode towards it, pushing the curtain back without a second thought.

He wasn’t quite ready for the sight that greeted him. There were a few scarred and tattooed aliens sitting sprawled on couches. He’d guess they were smugglers, or maybe pirates. Most of them were armed, though the atmosphere seemed relaxed. There were others, too- concubines or slaves- draped sensually over the furniture. And there, kneeling on the floor with his hand resting on the thigh of a rough-looking man, was _Lotor._

He was wearing some strange creation of white lace and silk that left him covered even as it put his entire body on display. His lips were awfully red, his eyelashes darker and longer than usual- he was wearing paint.

“Master,” Lotor said, wide-eyed as he watched Sendak step inside. He turned to the others with an uncomplicated smile playing over his lips. “This is my master, as I’ve mentioned.”

The rough-looking man smirked, running his eyes down Sendak’s body. “So you’re the one who owns this pretty pet.”

“...Yes,” Sendak said.

“Master,” Lotor said. “Sit- please. I’ve done exactly as you asked.”

“Have you,” Sendak said, faintly. Lotor liked to play games. He sat.

Lotor crawled over before rising and settling himself comfortably in Sendak’s lap like he belonged there. “Play along,” he whispered into Sendak’s ear, and suddenly it wasn’t so hard to bring his arm up to wrap around Lotor’s waist.

He sank his other hand into Lotor’s hair to tilt his face closer, leaning in to whisper back, very slowly and clearly so he could be sure Lotor understood. “I am going to kill you.” Lotor’s hair felt awfully fine against his skin, spilling through his fingers like cool silk.

“What sort of business do you do?” the rough man asked.

“What business is that of yours?” Sendak countered.

Lotor laughed. “Master is cautious,” he said.

Sendak wondered about what else he’d said. He wondered about why either of them were here at all.

“Your slave does you credit,” the rough man said. “He’s brave and clever. Pretty.”

“I don’t waste my time on anything less,” Sendak said and Lotor curled into him, tucking his face submissively against Sendak’s neck. Lotor had never been so close. He smelled of flowers and Sendak wondered if that was part of the game too, or if he smelled like that all the time. All of a sudden it was hard to focus, and he needed to focus in case he had to kill these men.

“Master flatters me,” Lotor said with a pretty blush, and then leaned in to speak directly into Sendak’s ear once more. “Ask them,” he whispered, so quietly it was nearly inaudible. “Ask them where they get their whores.”

“My slave is very fine,” Sendak said loudly. “But I have certain… tastes I don’t like to subject him to. He is too delicate. Do you have a place you could recommend?”

The rough looking man laughed and elbowed him in the side like they were drinking buddies. Sendak stiffened at the touch even as Lotor growled a low warning into his ear.

“You’ll want to go to Brockta’s Inn, Madam Ashanti’s place. She has the best boys. Not as pretty as yours, but they’re used to rough treatment.”

“Thank you,” Sendak said, annoyed all over again as Lotor started running his fingertip over the edge of his ear.

“Master,” Lotor said, a needy whine entering his tone. “I… missed you. Won’t you take me home?”

Everyone laughed. The rough looking man elbowed him again. “Needy little thing, isn’t he,” he said. “Maybe you’d like some help to keep him satisfied?” He reached out as if to touch Lotor’s hair and Sendak felt Lotor flinch minutely. He grabbed the man by the wrist before he could make contact and shoved him back.

“I don’t like to share,” he growled before unceremoniously standing. Lotor had to scramble not to fall to the ground. “Come, slave,” Sendak said, setting his hand over the back of Lotor’s neck and leading him out.

The night air was cool on his face and he forced himself to take a deep breath before he did something regrettable, like shake Lotor to death in the middle of the street. He took off his cloak and draped it over Lotor’s shoulders, covering up his airy confection of an outfit.

“Worried I’ll catch a chill?” Lotor smirked insolently. “How considerate. Master is so kind to me.” He batted his eyelashes while all Sendak could do was scowl.

“Stop that. You dishonor yourself. You dishonor your father, your Empire-”

“So dramatic,” Lotor said, rolling his eyes as he started to walk back towards the ship.

“What was the point of that display?”

“I wanted to know where the best bed boys were,” Lotor said easily. “I thought I’d ask a local.”

“You’re not getting a whore,” Sendak said firmly. “You’ll catch something, not that you don’t deserve it.”

“Do you really think you can stop me?” Lotor asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Sendak said. “All I’d have to do is put you over my shoulder and carry you away. You’re a runt.”

Lotor laughed. “You’d have to catch me first, you oaf.” Abruptly he bolted into a nearby alley and Sendak swore, taking off after him. It was dark and the alley was narrow and full of rubbish, and then it widened into a busy market street and Sendak nearly ran headlong into a fruit cart. He twisted away at the last second and scanned the crowd.

He was taller than the aliens around him by at least a head, it should have been easy. He didn’t see anyone running, he couldn’t find Lotor’s flash of white hair anywhere and swore again. He shouldn’t have given him the cloak.

He saw something falling out of the corner of his eye and reached out to grab it by pure instinct. It was a small yellow fruit, a preajutus. There was a vendor selling them nearby, from the cart he’d nearly run into. He looked up to see Lotor sitting on the roof above him, dangling his feet over the edge. He was eating a preajutus too.

Sendak could have used his thrusters to get to the roof in a flash but he hesitated. Lotor wasn’t wearing armor, he’d gotten up there on his own. An overflowing trashcan was a starting point, and a crack in the wall made a good handhold, and then Sendak was standing behind him.

“See?” Lotor said, leaning back on his elbows to look up at him. “Looks like you can’t stop me after all.”

“Why are you like this,” Sendak growled, sitting beside him. He contemplated the fruit still in his hand and took a bite. It was sweet, oddly refreshing. The air seemed fresher somehow now that they were a few stories up off the ground. He could see the market spread out below him, glowing with lanterns and loud with shouts as vendors proclaimed the virtues of their wares.

“Why indeed,” Lotor said, oddly thoughtful. “Let’s play a game.”

“I’m tired of your games.”

“But Lieutenant- we’ve barely even begun.”

Sendak finished the fruit and contemplated the hard pit left in his hand. There was a seed inside, he knew. The seed was poison. It reminded him of Lotor. “What’s the game?”

“Spot the pickpocket.”

Sendak looked into the market, watching the flow of foot traffic. From this vantage point it wasn’t difficult to spot the Unilu girl moving in opposition to the paths of the shoppers. She was wearing a coat too warm for the weather, the better to hide her illicitly gotten gains. Sendak flicked the pit of the preajutus fruit and hit her in the back of the head. She looked up, trying to figure out what had happened, and then quickly gave up to return to her work.

“Very good,” Lotor said. “Not good enough.”

Sendak looked over to see Lotor fiddling with his dagger and took it back with an exasperated sigh. “You lie, you manipulate, you drink and sleep around- and you steal as well. Do you have any worthwhile pursuits?”

“That depends, what would you consider worthwhile?”

“It’s late,” Sendak said. “Let’s go back.” He was surprised when Lotor got to his feet without further protest.

“I thought you were going to put me over your shoulder?”

“If you keep up these childish antics I’ll put you over my knee.”

“Oh my,” Lotor said, widening his eyes. “How very raunchy. I’d thought you were made of stone. They say you don’t fuck.”

“I thought they said I bend over for your father.”

“I said that,” Lotor smirked, “to Janka. Only to Janka. I’m curious about the truth.”

“I keep my private life private,” Sendak said, moving to climb down off the roof. Lotor followed easily, nimble as he climbed down the wall. He stepped onto the trashcan and Sendak unthinkingly offered his hand. Lotor took it and hopped down to the ground. His palm was calloused. Sendak filed that away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)

* * *

Sendak had half expected to be dragged to the brothel right away, but Lotor spent the next four days exploring the markets and being generally drunk and useless. He never left his rooms before noon, and then wasted at least an hour lingering over breakfast. He spent nearly three hours wandering a shop full of children’s toys, he spent a further five in a junkyard turned shipyard posing stupid questions to a man who sold used ships.

He spent an entire day locked in his suite fucking- _loudly-_ some local, and then started a bar fight and nearly gotten himself stabbed. In the commotion he slipped away and Sendak had spent the rest of the night tracking him through the dark streets only to get a cheerful message from Bogh at dawn that Lotor had been back on the ship for hours.

Lotor was completely unapologetic, of course, but somehow Sendak managed not to throttle him.

“You babysit him today,” Sendak growled, bumping into Bogh’s shoulder as he walked past. “I’m getting some sleep.”

Another day of nonsense passed, and then Sendak was trailing Lotor to a lavish house with a sign on the door that read Brockta’s Inn. The inside was intimately lit, the walls draped with silk and the air heavy with incense.

Lotor didn’t hesitate to walk up to a straight-backed woman sitting at a desk and smirked. “Madam Ashanti?”

“What are you looking for?” the madam asked with an oily smile.

“A boy- your best.”

“Are you sharing? Or would the young sir like one of his own?”

“Would you?” Lotor asked, looking back at Sendak standing impassively behind him. “Young sir?” His eyes were glittering with mirth.

“I don’t fuck whores,” Sendak said. The exchange of payment dishonored the act of lovemaking, turning it into something filthy and base. Sendak only took willing and enthusiastic lovers, not dull-eyed youths who sucked and spread so they could afford to put food in their mouths.

“So just the one, then,” Lotor said without skipping a beat and dropped some coins to the table.

“Izak is in room seven,” the Madam said. “He’s quite experienced. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“I’m certain we will,” Lotor said and practically bounded up the stairs.

“You’re awfully eager for someone who can easily get it for free,” Sendak said.

“Sometimes you just want a professional,” Lotor said flippantly. He'd done a lot to make Sendak angry since he’d started his service, but this, perhaps, rankled the most.

Lotor knocked on the door and a boy answered. Sendak’s opinion of his prince dropped further. The boy was very young. Lotor didn’t seem particularly put off.

“Which one of you is fucking me?” the boy, Izak, asked crassly. “I’m not doing both.”

“He’s just going to watch,” Lotor said with a nod towards Sendak.

“I’m not going to watch,” Sendak said.

“Are you quite sure?” Lotor asked with mock surprise. “You might even learn something. I hear Izak is the best.”

“I’m not,” Sendak gritted out, “going to _watch.”_

Lotor shrugged and the boy took his hand, pulling him into the room and firmly shutting the door behind him. Sendak crossed his arms and leaned his back against the wall, forcing himself to take slow even breaths. One of the doors opened and an alien stepped out, just as shifty and unpleasant looking as Sendak expected to find in a place such as this.

This was a place for sniveling worms, not men. This wasn’t a place for a prince.

He waited, trying to keep his anger to a low simmer rather than let it boil over. The room behind him was quiet; it had been quiet for a while. Lotor wasn’t quiet when he fucked. Maybe he was taking it slow with his boy whore. Maybe it was something else.

Sendak swore and went through the door.

The boy Izak was alone in bed, playing with a brightly-colored ball of interconnected puzzle pieces. Sendak remembered Lotor perusing a store full of children’s toys. He hadn’t bought anything at the time, but Sendak knew now that he was a thief.

“I’m not fucking _you,”_ Izak said with an annoyed frown. “You’re too big. And he said you were a brute.”

“Where is he?” Sendak demanded.

Izak glanced over towards the open window and Sendak moved to look but of course Lotor was already gone. He’d been gone at least fifteen minutes now. Sendak jumped out the window, landing lightly in the street. It stretched to either side of him, empty. There was no way to tell where Lotor had gone. By this point, he could have been anywhere.

Sendak swore. He’d been swearing a lot lately.

He used his communicator to call Bogh, who was otherwise occupied judging by the woman’s voice in the background calling him back to bed.

“Lotor ran off,” Sendak spit out angrily.

“So?” Bogh answered. “He does that all the time.”

“We have to find him.”

“He’ll be fine,” Bogh said. “He’s safer in Vair-Vasal than he would be at Central Command.”

Sendak snarled at the ridiculous notion. “Vair-Vasal is a viper pit full of liars and cheats and- and- criminals.”

“Exactly. He fits right in.”

“We are his _guards,”_ Sendak said. “We have to find him. He barely even knows how to hold a sword. Is he even armed? Anything could happen.”

Bogh sighed, slowly and with great frustration.

“Meet me in the central square, _now,”_ Sendak ordered.

“I hate your guts, I hope you know that.”

“I don’t care,” Sendak said and shut down the communicator.

The central square was packed, but it was easy enough to catch sight of Bogh standing by a broken fountain full of filthy still water.

“You know him best,” Sendak said without preamble. “Where would he go?”

“A bar, probably. Maybe a gambling pit.”

“A brothel,” Sendak grumbled.

Bogh laughed. “If he’s got his eye on a brothel we’ll be stuck here for weeks.”

Sendak scowled, a nasty comment on the tip of his tongue. He stifled it. “We’re wasting time. I’ll take this side of the street, you take the other. If you find him, let me know.”

“Yeah,” Bogh said with a casual wave, already walking away.

The search was fruitless so they moved up a block, and then another. Bogh was getting increasingly annoyed, clearly itching to give up the hunt. Sendak’s eye caught on a street urchin crouching in the dirt just inside a quiet alley.

The boy was wearing dirty and tattered clothes and a pair of brand new too-large boots. He was holding a golden dumpling in one of his hands. It was only half eaten, he was too preoccupied with the delicately carved toy horse he was playing with. The toy horse was expensive, the boots even more so. Sendak thought of the boy whore, playing with a brightly colored puzzle.

“You. Boy,” Sendak said as he walked over.

The boy jerked to his feet, clutching his prizes close to his chest like he wasn’t sure if he should run.

Sendak was awful with children, but he did his best to soften his voice as he knelt. “Easy, I won’t harm you. I just want to know where you got that horse.”

“I didn’t steal it,” the boy said, taking a half step backwards.

“I know you didn’t. A man gave it to you, isn’t that right?”

The boy nodded uncertainly. 

“Did he have long white hair?” Sendak asked. “Did he smile a lot?”

“Yes,” the boy said, smiling at the memory. “He bought me a bun, too. And boots.”

“Did you see where he went?”

“Why do you want to know?” the boy asked petulantly, suspicion clouding his young face.

“He’s a friend of mine. I’m looking for him.”

“I don’t remember.”

“Would you remember if I offered you a coin?” Sendak asked, pulling a ten GAC piece out of his pocket and waving it enticingly in front of the boy’s face.

“That way,” the boy said, pointing before snatching the coin out of Sendak’s hand and retreating deeper into the alley.

Sendak caught Bogh’s eye and motioned him sternly in the direction the boy had pointed.

Eventually there was another child, a girl with a doll and an apple tart and a fine new sweater. And then there was another boy with a new warm coat. This one had eaten his treat already so he was wholly engrossed with a stuffed animal that looked like a more pleasant version of Kova.

Finally they ended up in a noisy bar full of smoke, and at the back- Lotor sitting at a table playing cards with a few attractive companions. There was a pretty young man sitting in his lap with an arm around his shoulders, whispering into his ear with a smile and feeding him bits of candied fruit with his fingers.

“See?” Bogh said. “I told you. He’s fine.”

“He won’t be when I’m finished with him.”

“Have fun with that,” Bogh said and turned to leave.

Sendak marched over angrily. “I hope you enjoyed your little joke.”

“I did,” Lotor said blithely, not even looking at him. He leaned forward to wrap his lips around the morsel of fruit his companion was offering before sucking the man’s fingers into his mouth in a truly obscene gesture and moving back slowly, leaving them glistening. “How considerate of you to enquire about my enjoyment, Lieutenant.”

“That’s enough,” Sendak said. “Get up. I’m taking you back to the ship and making you do sword drills until your arms fall off.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline,” Lotor said. “I find I’d much rather stay here and let Keedrai feed me fruit while I trounce Ghiwina at cards.”

“You’re too sure of yourself,” said the muscular woman sitting across the table from him. She had a companion of her own, another woman that was resting her head on Ghiwina’s shoulder. “I’ve just drawn a winning hand.”

“You haven’t,” Lotor said lazily. “Whenever you get a good card, your nipples get hard.”

The woman’s companion laughed raucously and craned her head to kiss her lover’s cheek. “It’s true, kitten,” she murmured.

Sendak considered dragging Lotor out of his chair and carrying him back kicking and screaming. He had a feeling Lotor would find a way to make him pay dearly for that, and he couldn’t handle more abuse at the moment.

“If you’re staying, then so am I,” Sendak declared. “And I’m going to make sure you don’t have any fun.”

“Alas, I’m always having fun,” Lotor said, and motioned for the barkeep to bring more wine. While they waited, Lotor dealt Sendak into their game.

“Kotat?” Sendak asked.

“The game of kings.”

“Let’s make it interesting then,” Sendak said and wagered a month’s worth of wages on the outcome of the game. Or at least- what his wages had previously been. Lotor wasn’t exactly paying him a wage under their current arrangement.

They played. When the wine came Sendak allowed himself to drink, moderately. He made sure to keep Ghiwina’s and Lotor’s cups topped off. Slowly, Ghiwina started to get drunk and then she started to lose. Lotor didn’t drink but his lap boy did, growing more and more amorous as the night went on. He let his hands roam all over Lotor’s body, blushing as he whispered sweet nothings into Lotor’s ear and Lotor, despite himself, grew increasingly distracted. And then he started to lose too, and by the end of the night Sendak was the victor and all the richer for it.

Kotat was a game where you played your opponent, not your cards.

Sendak expected Lotor to invite Keedrai back to his ship. Instead he knelt and kissed the young man’s hand with all the elegance and restrained grace of an aristocrat and bid him good night before allowing Sendak to lead him back.

“I thought you’d invite him to your bed,” Sendak said thoughtfully into the stillness of the night.

“No,” Lotor said. “Keedrai is too impressionable. He finds the flirtation thrilling, but if we slept together he’d fall in love with me, and that would be rather unfortunate for him.”

Sendak scoffed, more at the notion that Lotor would care than anything else.

“What, you don’t think I’m lovable?” Lotor asked with a crooked smile and a sideways glance.

“I think you’re a viper. I also think you can be charming, when you try.”

Lotor snorted and looked straight ahead once again. They were nearly at the ship. When they reached it, the strange camaraderie that Sendak felt while they walked together through the dark silent streets would fade away.

“Bogh said something curious,” Sendak said. “He said- if you set your eye on a brothel we’d be here for weeks.”

Lotor laughed, the sound bright and clear and delighted. “That’s how long it took, last time.”

“How long what took?”

“I convinced the whores to band together,” Lotor said, his eyes glittering with conspiracy. “They murdered their head of house- a rather cruel poxy man- and took control of the brothel for their own profit. I still maintain a correspondence with them. They’ve turned the place into a dress shop, last I heard. They’re very good. They send me gifts from time to time.”

Gifts. Sendak remembered the lacy concoction Lotor had been wearing back in the smuggler’s den. “Is that where you got the- the-” he wasn’t sure what to call it, but somehow Lotor understood anyway.

“Yes,” he laughed, and then his posture shifted and he was looking up at Sendak through his eyelashes, his breath coming quick and eager. “Did master find it pleasing?” he asked, his voice trembling with desire and hopeful anticipation.

“No,” Sendak said, forcing himself to look away. “It was unbecoming of a prince.”

“That title means nothing, and we both know it,” Lotor said, back to himself again.

They’d reached the ship, the moment was broken.

“Good night, Lieutenant,” Lotor said, and took his leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)

* * *

Sendak wasn’t sure why they were lingering in Vair-Vasal. Surely Lotor had finished up his shopping?

But they stayed for another day, and then another. Sendak mostly guarded Lotor during the days while Bogh covered nights, and Sendak wondered if it wouldn’t be easier the other way around. It would be easier to have Lotor asleep, or fucking in the other room, than dealing with the nuisance of his infuriating company as Lotor did- whatever it was he did. Nonsense on top of nonsense.

On the third day after the brothel and the game of Kotat at the bar, he was surprised when Lotor led him to a modest arena on the outskirts of town.

“You enjoy the fights?” Sendak asked in surprise as Lotor bought a bottle of wine and a paper cone full of sweet roasted nuts before they settled into seats high up in the stands.

“Not particularly, but you do.”

“Why would you care what I enjoy?” Sendak asked, motioning a vendor over to buy a cup of ale. The day was hot and he preferred the refreshing bitterness of ale to the cloying sweetness of wine while he watched men fight.

“You’ve been a good dog, you deserve a treat.”

At the beginning of their arrangement Sendak might have been offended. He wasn’t sure how he felt now.

Lotor seemed to be having fun once the show began. First there were games and competitions and Lotor wagered on every event, first with Sendak and then with the other spectators sitting close by. The arena was packed, it wasn’t difficult for him to find interested parties. He was quite good at predicting the outcome of the events and soon he’d amassed a small fortune while the people around him sat with decidedly disgruntled expressions over their faces.

By the time the blood matches started no one was talking to Lotor anymore.

In Central Command the gladiator fights would have been to the death, but here first blood sufficed. Still, there were accidents. Sendak winced when one gladiator skewered another through the gut. Without a qualified doctor the man’s death would be slow and painful. He highly doubted any qualified doctor would risk showing their face in a hole like Vair-Vasal.

After it was all over Lotor lingered in the stands, finishing up his roasted nuts before balling up the empty paper cone and tossing it at Sendak’s head. Sendak caught it easily and deposited it into the trash without complaint. For once he was in a pretty good mood.

Lotor didn’t make his way to the exit but towards the arena, hopping easily over the barrier to land in the sand.

“What are you doing?” Sendak asked as he followed.

“What am I ever doing?” Lotor asked flippantly, heading towards the entrance that the gladiators and other competitors used to get into the arena.

“Fucking around. Playing games.”

“Quite right. Play along.”

They stepped into the dark underbelly of the stadium and Sendak blinked as he waited for his eyes to adjust. The hallway smelled sharply of blood and there was a man mopping up a dark stain off to the side. He didn’t look up as Lotor and Sendak went past.

Lotor seemed to know exactly where he was going, walking decisively through a door into a room that turned out to be an office. There was a portly older Unilu sitting behind the desk and he jerked up at the intrusion, his eyes widening.

“Prince Lotor,” he said, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead with glacial slowness. “I- I wasn’t made aware you were in town.”

“You’re aware now,” Lotor said pleasantly, flopping into the chair on the other side of the desk and sprawling out. “Hello Hime.”

The Unilu bit his lip and glanced up at Sendak before looking back at Lotor, who was casually inspecting his nails.

“You’re behind on your payments,” Lotor said. “But I’m sure it was simply an oversight."

“P-Prince Lotor,” Hime stuttered. “Times are hard, you understand-”

“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Lotor said coldly. “I was in the crowd just now. Business seems to be quite good.”

“Today was- was- unusual. It’s- the weather is so fine, that-”

 _“Lieutenant,”_ Lotor said with a sharp tone of command that had Sendak instinctively snapping to stand at attention before he’d realized what had happened. “Would you please restrain my friend Hime.”

“W-wait-!” Hime tried as Sendak walked over and grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him face first into the table, holding him there. He was a soldier, not a thug. But this particular game- Lotor playing the gangster- amused him.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Lotor said. “You’re going to give me my cut right now. Otherwise I’ll have my man break your arms.”

The Unilu was trembling with fear and Sendak took a careful step back in case the man pissed himself.

“It- it’s in the safe,” Hime whimpered. “I- I’m so sorry. Please, Prince Lotor-”

“Quiet,” Sendak growled and Hime stilled.

He watched as Lotor stood and walked confidently towards a book shelf. It swung aside to reveal a safe and Lotor typed a code into the keypad to open it. He took a share of the money inside, filling his bag calmly.

“Was that really so difficult?” Lotor asked as he closed the safe again and moved the bookshelf back into place. “You can let go of him now, brute.”

“Maybe I should break an arm,” Sendak said. “To make sure the lesson sticks.”

Hime whimpered in fear and Lotor laughed. “You see, my man is quite eager. But we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Yes,” Hime managed, nodding as much as Sendak’s grip on his neck would allow.

“Don’t forget it,” Lotor said. “I’m going to take a stroll through the cells to have a look at your slaves. I might take a few, if any catch my eye. Consider it a late fee. Lieutenant.”

Sendak let the man go and followed Lotor out. “How enterprising of you,” he said. “Shaking down the local businesses.”

“I helped him start this particular business, so he owes me a cut. Besides- I have to make a living somehow.”

“Make a living?” Sendak asked incredulously.

“Yes?” Lotor said, equally incredulous. “How do you think I pay for my food and drink? My ships? My guards?”

“You- you’re the prince,” Sendak said. “Your father-”

Lotor laughed but the sound was somehow sharp, brittle. “My father concerns himself with matters of war and conquest, not his son’s household finances. I doubt he even remembers he _has_ a son, most days. Do you really think he doles out an allowance like a kindly grandfather?”

“I suppose… not,” Sendak said slowly. He felt the world shifting oddly under his feet. Lotor earned his own money, through his own set of enterprises. Gambling and racketeering, apparently, but still. Everything he had he’d earned through his own merits. Sendak filed that away.

“Let’s not dawdle,” Lotor said, speeding up.

On the way they passed a room just as someone was leaving and Sendak caught a glimpse of what was inside- the injured man from before sleeping in a healing pod. Healing pods were hideously expensive, he’d never expected to find one in a small-time arena.

But this wasn’t just any arena. This was, apparently, Lotor’s arena.

They met with an assistant down at the cells who seemed to recognize Lotor and they greeted each other warmly. The assistant followed solicitously as Lotor pointed at a few of the imprisoned men and women while they stared back at their visitors with sullen frowns.

In all he selected eleven slaves and left orders with the assistant to deliver them to his ship.

“We are not a slave culture,” Sendak said after they left.

“Aren’t we?” Lotor asked. “We take prisoners and make them fight to the death for our amusement. We conquer planets and force their citizens to work in quintessence mines. Is that better than me taking a few slaves?”

“The people we conquer aren’t… slaves,” Sendak muttered, compelled to try and defend Galra culture.

“Of course not,” Lotor said simply. “They’re prisoners of war. They happen to have jobs that they have no choice in and don’t get paid for. But it’s not slavery, because you say so.”

“It’s different, with war.”

“Is it?”

Sendak stayed silent after that, annoyed and disgruntled. The earlier good mood from watching the fights was gone.

Instead of heading directly back to his ship Lotor went to the junkyard and the man that he’d spent so long talking to on one of the first days. Sendak waited with his arms crossed over his chest while Lotor asked more stupid questions and started arranging some sort of deal. Sendak let his eyes slide away as Lotor paid the trader most of the money he’d taken from the arena.

There was a boy off to the side, elbow deep in a defunct engine. He was covered in grease and his hair was mussed, but there was something familiar about him. There hadn’t been a boy here before.

“Who is that?” Sendak asked, pointing.

The trader broke off his conversation with Lotor and turned to look. “My new apprentice. Boy, come here.”

The boy looked up and grinned, his face lighting up at the sight of them. It was the boy whore, Izak.

Once he came closer Lotor reached out and ruffled his hair. Izak scoffed and pushed his hand away but he was beaming.

“How is he doing?” Lotor asked.

“Very well,” the trader said. “He’s nimble and clever. He’ll make an excellent engineer some day.”

“And how do you like it here?” Lotor said, turning to Izak.

“It’s more interesting work than at Madam Ashanti’s. Doesn’t pay as well.”

“It’ll pay better once you’re trained,” Lotor said with an easy laugh. “A good engineer can always find a place. The universe needs us to build the future. How is Master Vassar treating you? Well, I hope.”

“He’s awful,” the boy moaned dramatically. “A slave driver.”

“Hush, boy,” the trader said, cuffing him lightly around the back of the head. “Don’t you have work to be getting on with?”

“Yes,” Izak said, his lips twisting up with obvious pleasure. He liked it here. Of course, most places would be better than a brothel. “I solved the puzzle,” he told Lotor proudly.

“Did you,” Lotor said. He seemed proud too.

“It was easy, after I figured out that there were more pieces than there first appeared.”

“I’ll have to bring you a harder one, the next time I visit.”

“You don’t have to,” Izak said, but he was blushing. He ducked away and returned to his work. Lotor and the trader returned to their deal.

Sendak felt like he was slowly collecting puzzle pieces, each one an odd new facet of Lotor that seemed to add up to something he didn’t understand.

He thought of Lotor playing games, playing a slave and a slut and a gangster. He thought of a brightly colored puzzle, a toy horse, a doll and a new set of boots. He thought of Lotor getting drunk at bars and starting fights and sitting on a roof with his legs dangling off the side, eating a preajutus.

Maybe most of all he thought of Lotor’s hands. He had callouses on his palms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/187745530660/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

Sendak continued trying to teach Lotor the sword and it was one of the most hopeless enterprises he’d ever embarked on. No matter what he did, Lotor didn’t seem to be improving. He made the same mistakes over and over again, he was distracted. Sendak assigned him practice drills and Lotor didn’t do them. Sendak supervised and Lotor complained.

They didn’t even bother sparring, Lotor was too much of a novice.

“Why are you so hopeless at this?” Sendak demanded after a particularly fruitless training session.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t know,” Lotor said, widening his eyes innocently. “Maybe you should give up and let me get back to my drinking and whoring.”

It was some game, it had to be. Sendak gritted his teeth and raised his word. “Again,” he said, and they went through the drills again.

Lotor spent more time on the ship, accepting deliveries of mysterious crates and entertaining lovers in his suite. The slaves were delivered from the arena and Lotor had the training hall converted into a sort of dorm. Sendak wondered if it was a scheme to end their lessons or pure pragmatism. The training hall had attached bathroom and shower facilities, and it was the only place other than the hangar big enough to house eleven people.

Sendak didn’t like having the slaves on board. They seemed like fighters, and although Sendak was confident in his own abilities he wasn’t arrogant. He might be able to take down eleven opponents on his own, but not if they were well trained. It was just him and Bogh on the ship to stand against them if it came to it, and he couldn't count on Bogh because he’d never seen him fight.

The slaves seemed quiet enough for the time being, and thankfully the wild goose chases through the city seemed to be over.

Sendak hoped that meant they were getting ready to leave. He was looking forward to being gone from this place. 

He was resting in his suite after dinner when there was a knock on his door and he opened it to see Lotor.

“No,” Sendak said immediately.

Lotor was wearing something entirely indecent, a black skin-tight outfit made of lace and leather straps. Much of it was sheer. He was wearing a collar with a leash attached to it and he shoved the end of the leash against Sendak’s chest. Sendak didn’t take it.

“Yes,” Lotor said.

“No,” Sendak repeated. “I’m not playing this game again.”

“Yes, you are,” Lotor said firmly. “I’ve been negotiating with the smugglers on my own on behalf of my _master._ But now I need you to come seal the deal.”

“What deal?”

“Never mind what deal. I’ll do all the talking. Master isn’t very chatty.”

“I’m not going unless you let me in on the game.”

 _“Lieutenant,”_ Lotor said in that sharp commanding tone that had made Sendak snap to attention at the arena. Sendak was expecting him to try it, so it was lacking the element of surprise that had made it so effective the first time around. He still couldn’t help tensing, every muscle in his body tightening after years of army training. He knew that tone intimately. That tone meant _obey._

He took a deep breath and crossed his arms over his chest, raising his eyebrows as he waited expectantly.

“Fine,” Lotor said, rolling his eyes. “You’re a slaver. You’ve very successful. They’re smugglers. I’m your personal slave. Is that enough?”

Sendak put it together. “I need them to transport my slaves for me?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t I have my own transport methods worked out? If I’m so successful, why am I entrusting my precious cargo to criminals?”

“Master doesn’t share his plans with me and I don’t presume to ask,” Lotor said, dropping his eyes to the floor. “But master has mentioned some troubles with pirates. But oh, I really shouldn’t say anything more, master wouldn’t be pleased.”

Sendak was still in his armor but he grabbed his cloak off a nearby peg and draped it over Lotor’s shoulders.

“It’s a warm night,” Lotor said.

“If you were my slave I wouldn’t like strangers seeing you like that,” Sendak said. “I wouldn’t like anyone but me seeing you like that.”

“Master doesn’t like to share,” Lotor said with a smirk.

Sendak held out his hand and Lotor gave him the end of the leash. He gave it a sharp tug, just to see how Lotor would react. Lotor stumbled forward much further than the force of the tug warranted, bracing himself on Sendak’s chest and looking up at him submissively while blushing. He was too good at this.

“Come, slave,” Sendak said and stepped away from him. He remembered the bar from the first time Lotor had played slave and headed towards it but Lotor shook his head and took them a different way.

It was still a bar, but this one had guards at the door. They seemed to know Lotor and let them inside without any questions. Lotor shrugged off the cloak and Sendak took it back, annoyed but wary of making a scene. The place was dark, the air thick with sweet smelling smoke. It made Sendak’s head spin a little dizzily, but thankfully the effect didn’t seem to be too intense.

Lotor took them to a private room and Sendak recognized most of the people from before. The atmosphere was even more relaxed than last time, the concubines openly caressing their masters as the smugglers drank and laughed with each other.

“Welcome,” said the rough-looking man who had done most of the talking last time.

There was an empty seat on one of the couches so Sendak sat, tapping his thigh pointedly. Lotor sat in his lap and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, smiling blandly. Sendak set his hand over Lotor’s hip in what he hoped was a sufficiently possessive gesture.

“Your pet is an excellent negotiator,” the rough-looking man said. “He squeezed quite the deal out of me.”

Sendak frowned at the phrasing, the insinuating tone. “He’s very good at ensuring I’m pleased.”

“Based on the fact that you’ve graced us with your presence- it seems you are.”

“Master is very pleased by the terms,” Lotor said.

“Hush, pet,” Sendak said, brushing his fingers over Lotor’s lips, careful not to smudge the paint. “The men are talking now.”

Lotor looked decidedly annoyed but he couldn’t exactly disobey and ruin his own charade.

“Pour me a drink,” Sendak said and Lotor had no choice but to obey. Sendak turned back to the head smuggler. “What assurances can you give me that my shipment will be secure? Have you made this run before?”

“To Galra Central Command?” the smuggler asked with a smirk and Sendak tensed in shock. Lotor’s hand at the back of his neck tensed too and Sendak could feel the threatening hint of claws. “Oh yes,” the smuggler said.

“This is not just any shipment, you understand,” Sendak said slowly. “Live cargo involves certain... complications.”

“We’ve smuggled live cargo, too,” the head smuggler said, this time with a frown. “We’ve already told all this to your slave-”

“I wanted to hear it directly from you,” Sendak interrupted. “He’s pretty and clever but he can get confused sometimes. Strong men leave him… flustered.” Lotor’s claws grew from a distant threat to a painful stabbing sensation at the back of his neck. Sendak put his hand on Lotor’s inner thigh close to his groin so the others wouldn’t see him unsheathing his own claws to stab back in retaliation.

Lotor made a small noise of surprise and Sendak grinned, never having once taken his eyes off the leader. “You see?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, I want to look the man I’m dealing with directly in the face when I finalize a deal.”

“That’s perfectly understandable,” the smuggler said, relaxing. He spread his arms wide. “Well? Do you like what you see?”

“Yes,” Sendak said. “I think I like you just fine. Let’s seal the agreement with a binding.”

“So you want to do it the old fashioned way.” The smuggler grinned even wider.

“I’m an old fashioned man,” Sendak said. “When it counts. Isn’t it our traditions that separate the men from the beasts?”

While in the army, Sendak had had his fair share of run-ins with smugglers. He knew their ways, their little rituals, knew how to tell the difference between the ones that were simply in it for easy money and which ones thought of themselves as some sort of noble pirates. They were all the same, in the end. The ones who thought themselves noble were simply more easily flattered and won over.

Sendak turned to Lotor. “Give me your hand, pet.”

Lotor did what he was told. Sendak ripped a strip of lace off his sleeve. “Kiss it, for good fortune,” Sendak said, offering him the piece of cloth. Lotor took the lace and kissed it, leaving a perfect ruby red imprint of his painted lips. Sendak stood, slowly this time so Lotor could dismount with grace. The smuggler stood too.

“To a successful venture,” Sendak said and offered his hand.

“To a successful venture,” the smuggler said and clasped it.

Sendak abruptly wondered if Lotor knew what he was supposed to do, but he needn’t have worried. Lotor stepped forward and tied one end of the lace around Sendak’s wrist before moving to do the same for the smuggler with the other end. After he moved away Sendak drew his dagger, the smuggler still mirroring him, and they cut the lace together so they could sit back down.

“Let’s toast,” the smuggler said.

They toasted. Lotor found his way back onto Sendak’s lap and started stroking the edge of his ear in a way that was both ticklish and pleasurable. Sendak flicked his ear. Lotor discreetly pinched him.

“How early can you accept my shipment?” Sendak asked. “I warn you, my men are out drinking tonight, I doubt they’ll be able to deliver it before noon.”

“Noon will be fine,” the smuggler said. “We operate out of the warehouse district. You’ll know it by the red square on the door.”

Lotor tensed and Sendak knew that was what he’d been waiting for. For some reason he wanted to know where the smugglers kept their stash.

 _“Master,”_ he moaned breathily, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“It seems he’s quite eager for your cock tonight,” the smuggler said with a laugh.

“He’s eager for my cock every night. But I like to celebrate a deal well made and the night is still young.”

“What are you _doing,”_ Lotor hissed into his ear.

Sendak ignored him. For once he was caught in his own web, and Sendak was going to enjoy it while he tried to figure out what was going on here.

He drank, he laughed. He joked with the smugglers and made approving comments about their concubines. He teased Lotor, too. Maybe that was the most fun of all. After being forced to serve him, after running after him and being ditched by him, it was oddly delicious to have Lotor at his mercy. He had Lotor pour him drinks and feed him sweets. He had Lotor kneel and fetch and wait on him. Through it all he didn’t touch him beyond what Lotor initiated. Games and teasing were well and good but there was still a line here and Sendak wouldn’t cross it.

The smugglers were getting increasingly drunk and rowdy. One of the men had his concubine go down on her knees and suck him off. Sendak managed to hide his distaste.

“I’m curious,” he said, careful to slur his words so he’d appear drunker than he was. He was pretty sure the others were too deep in their cups to notice either way but it couldn’t hurt to be careful. “Your other shipment… what was it? Did someone at Central Command request slaves? Normally I’d never ask, but this could help me expand my business.”

The head smuggler laughed. “Not slaves. Not exactly. But the witch certainly has… needs.”

“The witch,” Sendak said, widening his eyes in surprise that wasn’t entirely faked. “She strikes me as an ice cold bitch. Do you think she fucks?”

“I don’t think that’s what she uses them for,” someone else laughed. “There are too many. No one could get through them all, at some point you have to take a shit.”

Everyone laughed. Sendak laughed too. This entire adventure had started with Lotor fucking one of Haggar’s assistants. He’d left behind his datapad, but Sendak knew now- Lotor was a thief.

Lotor was sitting on his lap and staring down at him with a smile, but his eyes were boiling with anger.

“If I stay here much longer someone will have to carry me home,” Sendak said. Lotor stood. Sendak stood too. He patted the head smuggler on the shoulder. “It’s a pleasure doing business with like-minded individuals.”

“Yes. We’ll be ready for your men tomorrow.”

Sendak nodded and made a point of appearing unsteady on his feet until they were back on the street.

Sendak gave Lotor his cloak. Lotor slapped him in the face.

“You’ve wasted too much time,” Lotor hissed and turned on his heel, walking quickly into the dark even as he typed something into his communicator.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

“We can still make it if we run,” Lotor said and took off, clutching the cloak closed over his chest. Sendak followed him through dark streets and wondered about what they were doing. This didn’t feel like a game anymore.

They ran for ten minutes or more, and when they stopped Lotor didn’t seem winded at all.

They were in the warehouse district. Lotor checked his communicator and ran again, and then he was climbing a wall and they ran for some time across the roofs until they were on a rooftop looking down at the warehouse across the street, marked by a red square.

Lotor typed something into his communicator. A transport ship descended out of the night sky and landed in front of the building. Sendak recognized the ship, he’d seen it in the shipyard when Lotor had been talking to Master Vassar. Eleven people stepped out.

They broke down the door and Sendak could hear the commotion inside, the shouts and unmistakable sound of firearms. Lotor climbed down the wall and all Sendak could do was follow.

Lotor’s slaves, or not slaves- Sendak understood that now. They weren’t slaves and they never had been. Lotor’s _people_ had secured the warehouse and one of them was cutting open a chain that held a container closed.

“You’re late,” one of the men grumbled. “They’re about to change shifts.”

“Blame this one,” Lotor said flippantly, nodding at Sendak as he walked towards the container. “We can still make it if we hurry.”

The doors opened and there were faint murmurs and a sound like a woman’s scream.

“It’s alright,” Lotor said, climbing inside. Sendak didn’t hear what he said afterwards, but then there was a stream of frightened and injured aliens running out of the container and towards the transport ship. Lotor’s people shepherded them like guard dogs and then the prisoners were under Lotor’s control and Sendak followed Lotor into the transport too.

It rumbled as it rose, and when it sat down again Sendak wasn’t surprised to exit the transport craft and find himself in the hangar of Lotor’s ship. The hangar door was already closing, the engines already engaged.

“Secure them,” Lotor ordered one of his men before striding to the bridge. Sendak followed, confused even as things started to fall into place.

“You’re late,” Bogh said from his spot at the controls. The ship was already rising through the atmosphere, faster than what was strictly safe.

Lotor threw an angry glance Sendak’s way.

“I can’t read minds,” Sendak said testily. “If you’d just told me what you were planning-”

“Every time I tell someone what I’m planning my plans seem to go awry,” Lotor responded. “Sit down, Lieutenant. Strap yourself in.”

Sendak did what he was told.

An alarm went off. They were being followed.

Bogh moved to the sensor console, typing furiously. Lotor sat in the pilot’s seat.

“How many?” Lotor asked. His hands were sure over the controls, he seemed perfectly calm.

“A fucktonne,” Bogh muttered. “Some of their ships are fast. Faster than us.”

The smugglers were coming after them. For some reason Lotor was grinning. “Let’s play a game of tag, then.”

He yanked back on the controls, performing a maneuver that sent Sendak’s heart into his throat. He hoped the other passengers were strapped in too.

As they left the atmosphere the alarms reached a fever pitch and Sendak realized why when he saw laser blasts fly past the port bow. Lotor laughed. And then he rolled the ship.

It shouldn’t have been possible with a craft this size but Sendak saw it for himself and was amazed. Another sharp maneuver that shouldn’t have been possible set them hurtling towards an asteroid field. Sendak winced. It was a death trap.

Lotor maneuvered them between asteroids like threading a needle even as they exploded around them, sending shards of molten rocks in every direction. They sparked as they hit the shields and harmlessly bounced away. A particularly fast fighter flew past them and Lotor shot it down without skipping a beat before veering sharply to avoid a large asteroid. One of the pursuing ships wasn’t so nimble and it crashed into the asteroid and exploded.

It was pure chaos, and through it all was the stream of Bogh’s dry reports as he monitored the sensors.

“One down. Two down. One more down. Two dozen still on our tail. One down.”

The space around them was a killing field, sharp rocks and debris and everywhere laser fire. Lotor wasn’t even sweating.

They were through the asteroid field and headed towards a barren moon. Sendak couldn’t speak even if he’d wanted to. He was equal parts terrified and exhilarated. He’d never seen anyone fly like this.

Lotor turned the ship, flying around the moon. And there, hidden and waiting, was a pirate fleet. Their weapons were powered, their shields up. 

Sendak’s blood ran cold as he realized the smugglers had reinforcements, maybe they’d been expecting a theft. There were too many and Lotor’s ship had no chance against them all, no matter how good of a pilot he was.

But no- they let Lotor’s ship sail by without incident. Sendak’s world shifted, refocusing sharply as he realized the pirates were _Lotor’s_ reinforcements. And then the smugglers followed and the pirates opened fire.

Lotor turned the ship on a dime, heading back into the fray, and then he was firing too and all Sendak could do was watch and try to remember to breathe as the smugglers were systematically destroyed. A few tried to run. They didn’t get very far.

In the space between one heartbeat and another it was suddenly over. The pirates hailed Lotor’s ship and Lotor answered, grinning and breathing hard.

Sendak recognized the pirate captain and it was another puzzle piece suddenly falling into place. It was the woman from the bar where they’d played the game of Kotat. She’d been the one hanging off Ghiwina’s arm. She’d laughed and called Ghiwina a kitten.

“Well, well,” Lotor said. “It appears there is, in fact, honor among thieves.”

“Not really,” the woman said. “But there’s honor among friends. I trust you’ve held up your end of our bargain?”

“Of course,” Lotor said.

She nodded and the transmission cut off.

Lotor docked his ship with the lead pirate craft and Sendak followed him in a stupor. The hangar door opened. The pirates rushed in.

The ‘slaves’ were welcomed with open arms and cries of _husband_ and _sister_ and _darling._ Sendak gathered from the rest of the conversation that these people had been captured on a failed run, and that was why they’d been sent to the arena in the first place.

The prisoners they’d rescued from the warehouse were strangers to all, but Lotor made a deal with the pirate captain to transport them somewhere safe. She kissed him on the cheek. He kissed her on the hand. Keedrai was there too and he was bold enough to kiss Lotor on the mouth. Lotor took him by the chin and kissed him back, open-mouthed and passionate, and then laughed and gently pushed him back.

“It’s always a pleasure, kitten,” the pirate captain said with a wink. “Let me know if you want to play again.”

And with that they took their leave and the adventure of Vair-Vasal was over.

Slowly, Sendak put it together. 

Lotor set a course for Central Command. He and Bogh retreated for the common room to open bottles of champagne. Sendak joined them for lack of anything better to do.

This had all started when Lotor had stolen the datapad of one of Haggar’s assistants. Haggar, who was importing alien prisoners illicitly for- what? Experiments? It sickened him.

Apparently it sickened Lotor, too. Because he’d gone to Vair-Vasal and uncovered her plot, rooted out her supplier. He’d found the smuggler’s brothel of choice, likely his first play at finding their warehouse. Men talked after sex, they talked in front of whores.

When that hadn't worked he'd conned them with a fake deal, made arrangements with pirates for the manpower he’d need if the deal went south, and enacted a rescue for all the innocents that would have ended up in Haggar’s lab.

He’d left a string of children in his wake, clothed and fed and playing with toys in the street. He'd put the boy whore on the path to becoming an engineer. 

He was a liar and a thief and a thug, a drunk and a cheat. He was the best pilot Sendak had ever seen. He carved his own path through the universe and he did it without the power of the Empire behind him.

Sendak could hardly believe that this had all started with Lotor stabbing him with a fork.

“Have you pieced it all together yet, my brute?” Lotor asked as he peered at Sendak over a glass of champagne.

“All but one thing,” Sendak said slowly. “When you needed a fake master with the smugglers, why did you call me and not Bogh?”

It was obvious Lotor trusted Bogh, enough to share at least some of the plan with him. Bogh wouldn’t have made the mistake of lingering with the smugglers like Sendak had.

“Bogh was occupied elsewhere,” Lotor said. It was a lie. He would have made sure Bogh was available if that was who he’d wanted playing the role of his so-called master.

“No,” Sendak said while Lotor watched expectantly. It seemed like everything came down to games with him, even life and death. The last piece slotted into place. “It’s because I’m better at Kotat.”

Lotor smiled lazily and took a sip of champagne, his earlier anger forgotten in the face of victory.

“Good dog,” he said.

Maybe it was meant to feel like a slap in the face. It felt like a pat on the back. Sendak sat beside him and poured himself a glass of champagne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord


	8. Arc II: Rum'ka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

Being back in Central Command should have felt like coming home. Sendak had grown up on a ship, spent most of his life on them. The time they'd spent on Vair-Vasal was the longest he’d ever been planet-side.

Central Command felt oddly claustrophobic, the hallways suddenly narrow and cramped. It felt empty, too- full of Galra soldiers and Sentries and that was all. Vair-Vasal had been so vibrant, so full of life. Not always pleasant, but it had its charms. He missed the view of the wide-open sky full of stars, looming huge over him. He saw the stars all the time, but it was different looking out a porthole.

He missed the taste of fruit and cheap bitter ale, the smell of smoke and sweat and incense in the air. He missed the dirt and the narrow alleys, the bustling market stalls, the vendors shouting and laughing with each other. Strangest of all- he missed the sight of children playing in the streets, rowdy and uncontained in their joy. There were no children on Galra warships.

Lotor didn’t skip a beat. On the very first evening that they’d returned he dressed casually and made to leave, only to pause when Sendak rose to follow him.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Guarding you,” Sendak said.

“You don’t think I’ll be safe in the center of the Galra Empire?” Lotor asked.

Bogh didn’t think so. Sendak wasn’t sure.

“I’m just a humble guard,” he said dryly. “My place is to guard you, wherever you might go. Unless you’re ready to dismiss me from your service?”

Lotor looked at him for a long considering moment. “No,” he said at last, thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t like to dismiss you at this time.”

He seemed distracted, staring at Sendak standing before him. Sendak raised his eyebrows, waiting.

“You’re not in your Imperial armor,” Lotor said.

“No,” Sendak said.

In truth, he preferred the armor Lotor had given him. It felt- _better,_ in every respect. He liked wearing it, he liked the way he looked in it, he liked the advanced features that it had- the extra mini-thrusters in the forearms, the various communication functions, the shielding capability that he’d never seen armor equipped with before. Maybe most of all- he liked that Lotor had commissioned it for him out of his own limited personal funds.

But he couldn’t say that, so he said- “I wouldn’t want to give your shenanigans the appearance of Imperial approval.”

“I see,” Lotor said, a faint smile playing over his lips. “Come along then, brute.”

Sendak followed.

They went to the residential wing of the ship, officer’s quarters. Lotor took them into one of the bunks and Sendak found himself in a modest living area with three Galra Lieutenants sitting around a small dining table- Sniv, Throk, and Ladnok. He didn’t know them very well but he knew of them. Ladnok was shuffling a deck of cards.

“So the rumors are true,” Throk said with a nasty little smirk as he stared at Sendak.

“I don’t waste time on rumors,” Sendak said as Lotor dropped easily into a seat at the table.

“They say you’re Lotor’s dog,” Throk said. “What does he have on you? Or is his ass really that fine?”

Sendak stayed silent, annoyed at Throk’s tone. He didn’t have to answer to a runt.

“Speak, dog,” Lotor said with a smirk. “I’m quite curious to hear your assessment of my ass.”

Sendak stared at Lotor, wondering what he was up to, then looked back at Throk’s unpleasant expression. “It’s unkind to taunt a man by describing a pleasure he’ll never have.”

Lotor laughed. Sniv and Ladnok laughed too.

“There’s another seat,” Lotor said, glancing over to an empty chair. “If you’d like to join us for a game of Rum’ka.”

Rum’ka was a game of chance, not skill. Lotor didn’t like it, because Lotor liked to cheat.

“I’m on duty,” Sendak said and stationed himself unobtrusively in the corner of the room. No one seemed to notice that from this vantage point he’d have a perfect view of both Throk’s and Ladnok’s cards.

Suddenly Lotor seemed to be in an excellent mood. 

Ladnok dealt the cards while Sniv poured liquor.

Conversation flowed easily between the strange little group. Sendak observed with interest as the dynamics slowly became clear. 

These were Ladnok’s rooms and her weekly game. She was up for a promotion. Throk was annoyed because he felt the promotion should have gone to him. Nevertheless, he stuck to her side in the hopes of riding her coattails. She allowed it because she found him useful, and she enjoyed his crass jokes. Neither of them particularly liked Sniv, who lacked ambition and common sense. But he had black market contacts, and as a result- the best liquor.

Sniv was the one who’d invited Lotor, who wasn’t generally welcome at such gatherings. Based on the way Sniv was leaning close to him and setting his hand on Lotor’s thigh, it was clear that the invitation was a clumsy attempt to get into his pants.

Based on the well-hidden annoyance in Lotor’s eyes, it was clear that Sniv’s attempt was doomed to fail.

That only left the question of what Lotor was getting out of this evening. It wasn’t the fun of the game, though he did seem to be enjoying himself as Sendak helped him win, subtly signalling when to place bets and when to hold back. He didn’t particularly seem to enjoy the company either, and he was only pretending to drink.

The game continued late into the evening, and by the end of it Lotor’s motives weren’t any clearer than they had been at the beginning. He pretended to be drunk and ‘accidentally’ knocked over the liquor, spilling alcohol all over Throk’s lap.

Throk hissed and jerked to his feet. Lotor stood too and stumbled into him, apologizing profusely and drunkenly. The bottle rolled off the table and shattered. Ladnok swore loudly. Her quarters would probably reek of liquor for days.

Lotor stumbled again and Sniv thought maybe this was his chance to cop a feel but Lotor twisted away and bumped into him. Sniv fell and broke the table. Lotor crouched as if to help him up only to grow pale and press his hand to his lips like he was about to puke.

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Ladnok hissed, rushing to her small bathroom to grab a towel.

In the chaos no one noticed that Lotor stole one of the cards out of her deck and most of the money.

“Get out!” Ladnok cried out. “Everyone- get the fuck out!”

Lotor wasn’t going to be invited to this gathering again.

Once they were alone in the halls Lotor gave up the pretense of being drunk in favor of whistling cheerfully as they walked back to the Imperial quarters. Sendak didn’t bother asking what that had been about. Lotor would only lie, if he answered at all.

“Which card did you steal?” he asked instead.

Lotor raised an eyebrow with a cheeky smirk. Sendak remembered his expression from the feast, back when he’d first agreed to play his game. Lotor looked utterly delighted as he made the card appear in his hand as if by magic and flipped it over so Sendak could see. It was the joker.

Sendak let out a startled laugh.

* * *

He’d been expecting things to be calmer now that they were back with the Galra fleet, but apparently Lotor could quite easily cause trouble wherever he was. 

Infuriatingly, he wasn’t improving at swordplay. If anything he seemed to be getting worse.

More infuriatingly- he continued to sneak out, ditching Sendak at every opportunity. At least on the ship he had access to the security cameras and he spent his days chasing Lotor down.

Lotor drank with the mechanics and joked with the soldiers, played dice with the medical assistants. He visited the cells and handed out gifts to the gladiators. He and a few of the engineers came up with a contraption to refine biofuel residue into some sort of drug and Sendak walked in on a group of grown men giggling like children in the smoke-filled cockpit of one of the experimental fighters.

Lotor had taken one look at his furious expression and broken down into a fresh wave of laughter. Sendak stormed over and grabbed him, finally making good on his promise of putting Lotor over his shoulder to carry him back to his rooms.

Lotor only laughed harder, practically gasping for breath.

Sendak arranged a break for himself after that, making sure Bogh would keep an eye on Lotor while Sendak went to have a drink. 

Ranveig had brought his fleet in to Central Command to report to the Emperor. Sendak technically still had clearance, so he took a fighter over to his old warship, where he’d been Ranveig’s Lieutenant. The soldiers saluted him respectfully as he walked through the halls, murmuring “Vrepit Sa, Lieutenant Sendak,” and bringing their fists up to their chests. It felt strange to be treated with proper respect after spending so much time with Lotor. Strange and oddly… cold. Empty. Sendak tried to put it out of his mind.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Haxus said when he let Sendak into his room. Being a soldier meant that Haxus’ room was small, just a bunk and a desk, a tiny bathroom. Sendak sat on the bunk with a sigh, rubbing his temples.

Haxus pulled a bottle out of a crate under his bed and Sendak gratefully took a drink, the cheap whiskey making his throat burn. It reminded him of simpler days, when he was just a soldier too.

“Nice armor,” Haxus said with a twinkle in his eye, sitting beside him and bringing a knee up to his chest. “How is our prince treating you?”

“He’s a nightmare,” Sendak said. “But he’s also- I don’t know. I don’t know what to make of him. He’s a good pilot. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen.”

“I know,” Haxus said with a laugh.

“What do you mean you _know?”_

“I’m the same age as him,” Haxus said, taking the bottle back. “We were in the same training class.”

Sendak could only stare at him in shock. Somehow he’d never considered that Lotor had been a child himself, once. He couldn’t quite picture it, no matter how hard he tried.

“He always had top marks. He was a serious kid.”

Sendak could picture that even less. “Last night I caught him getting high off jet fuel.”

Haxus laughed. “You should have seen him when he was eight. Every time the Emperor came to supervise training sessions he’d get this pinched look on his face. He tried so hard to impress him. He’d fight like a little devil while his father watched the sparring. He broke a boy’s arm once, quick and clean like he’d meant to do it. The other boy was practically twice his size. No one wanted to spar with him after that.”

“He’s terrible now,” Sendak said dumbly. “I’ve been training him. What the hell happened?”

Haxus shrugged and took another drink. “He stopped showing up at some point. There were rumors- an accident, an injury. No one told us anything, he was just gone. You could ask him yourself.”

“There’s no point asking him anything,” Sendak said with a shake of his head. “All he does is lie and drink and sleep around.”

“Some of the boys used to pay him to complete their assignments for them,” Haxus said thoughtfully. “Some of them paid to fuck him.”

Sendak was sure that he’d misheard. If he’d been holding the bottle he would have dropped it.

“Well, that’s what they said, anyway,” Haxus said and took a drink.

“That- that’s disgusting.”

“You’ve always hated whores,” Haxus said with a wry smile.

“It’s not the whores I hate,” Sendak growled. “It’s the clients. Don’t spread gossip. He’s your prince.”

Haxus ducked his head, blushing with embarrassment. “Sorry, Commander.”

“I didn’t mean to snap at you,” Sendak said sheepishly. Haxus was a good friend, and he hadn’t meant any harm. “And I’m not a Commander.”

Not yet.

“Let’s talk about something else,” Sendak said, nudging Haxus in the side with his elbow. “I think I’ve had enough of our prince for a lifetime.”

They talked and for a while it was easy, the way it had been when they’d served on the front lines together. Eventually the bottle was nearly empty and they were recounting war stories, and then Sendak’s communicator rang and he sighed.

“What,” he said.

“Lotor ran off,” Bogh said.

“So?” Sendak answered, overwhelmed by the familiarity of it all. This wasn’t one of the games he enjoyed. “He does that all the time.”

“He’s off-ship I think. Anyway- aren’t you the one all gung-ho about doing your guardly duties?”

“I’m drunk,” Sendak said. This was going to be a pain in the ass. In space there wasn’t going to be a trail of helpful children with brand new toys to point the way. “I can’t fly. You’re going to have to come pick me up.”

“You’re drunk?” Bogh asked with a note of glee in his voice. Sendak hung up on him.

“Good luck,” Haxus said and sent him away with a pat on the back.

On the way to meet Bogh, Sendak stopped at one of the armories and used a non-negligible portion of his savings to requisition a set of sophisticated tracking devices. He was tired of playing cat and mouse, next time Lotor ran off Sendak would chase him down the easy way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica

* * *

For a few days Lotor was mostly holed up in his rooms, fucking or reading or whatever it was he did when he wasn’t running around. Sendak didn’t let himself relax. The quiet just made him more nervous. It meant Lotor was planning something.

Sure enough, he was woken in the middle of a sleep cycle by an insistent beeping. The bug he’d planted in one of Lotor’s boots was outside the allotted range. Sendak dressed quickly and hurried to follow, feeling a strange sense of excitement as he walked down quiet corridors towards the hangar.

Lotor was always two steps ahead, leaving Sendak to play catch up after the fact. He hid what he was really doing behind games and annoying antics, showing Sendak teasing glimpses of his true plans like a flirtatious girl would flash a thigh, a breast. Sendak was tired of teasing and glimpses, he wanted to see what Lotor was up to.

Lotor’s ship was gone so Sendak took a fighter, careful to follow out of sensor range. 

Lotor went to a near-by Galra space station. It was a support station, a place for Galra ships to refuel and restock, to repair. He landed some twenty minutes after Lotor must have and paused, staring at his communicator panel to see Lotor’s location. For a moment he felt uneasy, but he had to know. So he stood, and followed.

The space station had a central commerce area, large enough to be bustling no matter the time. Galra fleets weren’t on standardized schedules, while one fleet had their sleep cycle a different one might be wide awake. The space station had to accommodate them all, so most of their facilities would be running around the clock.

Sendak followed Lotor’s signal past the market and repair sections, into the bowels of the station, the storage areas. Lotor’s signal wasn’t moving, it hadn’t moved for a while.

Sendak walked through twisting hallways slowly so as not to make a sound. There was an odd stillness in the air, a shivering anticipation. Lotor’s signal wasn’t moving. Maybe he’d found the bug and ditched it here, but somehow Sendak knew he hadn’t.

He turned a corner, another, and then he found himself standing in a hall of storage units. One of the doors was standing open. He noted the unit number, and then he heard Lotor’s voice, faint but unmistakable. He crept closer and carefully peered through the doorway. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t this-

Lotor had one knee on the floor and was smiling softly as he spoke to a small girl who couldn’t have been older than five or six. She was holding a stuffed animal with both hands. She was wearing a Galra-issue prison shirt that engulfed her tiny body like a dress. The Galra didn’t make prison clothes in children’s sizes. She was wearing a new coat over it, fluffy and warm. Her hair was messy and there was dirt on her face. The stuffed animal she held was pristine. She was smiling too. As Sendak watched, Lotor reached out to push her hair out of her eyes and said something that made her giggle.

The girl had nut-brown skin and white hair. She had blue crescent-shaped marks under her eyes. Sendak inhaled sharply as his hand went to his blaster by pure instinct. She was Altean. Alteans were monsters, barbaric brutes. The Emperor’s orders were to kill Alteans on sight.

Lotor offered her his hand and she took it, cautiously. And then she looked up and saw Sendak standing in the doorway. She dropped her toy and screamed.

Lotor looked up too. His face went very pale, his eyes grew cold and furious. Sendak had never seen such fury before and he felt it like a physical blow. It knocked the air out of him. Lotor was always smiling, playing around. Not now. Now he was a Galra Prince. In this tiny storage room and still on one knee, he made Sendak feel the same way he felt when he stood before the Emperor.

“It’s alright,” Lotor told the girl while staring at Sendak. His voice was warm and gentle. His eyes were fierce. It felt like looking into a fractured mirror and seeing a slightly different reflection in each facet. “Everything’s alright, this is my friend- he’s not going to hurt you.”

His eyes flicked down to where Sendak was holding the hilt of his blaster in a white-knuckled grip. She was just a child. Abruptly he let go and stepped back. Lotor’s expression softened. He turned away to look at the girl, who was crying now.

“Everything’s going to be alright, I promise.” Lotor opened his arms and she threw herself towards him. He picked her up and stood. He whispered soothing nonsense to her and pushed her hair out of her eyes. He wiped her cheeks with the edge of his cloak.

“I bet you’re not old enough to know how to shift,” Lotor teased with an easy smile and she looked up at him, not sure if she was still scared or if she was feeling offended now.

“I’m old enough,” she said with a pout. “My mama showed me how.”

“Prove it,” Lotor said, “and I’ll get you a treat. Can you change your skin so it’s like mine?”

The girl shut her eyes and frowned very hard, wrinkling her button nose. Her skin shifted to purple. Lotor made a show of being very impressed.

“It looks so pretty,” Lotor said. The girl looked down at her hands with a frown. She didn’t seem so sure.

Sendak felt oddly shaken as he stared at the startling picture before him. The girl’s hair was the exact same shade of white as Lotor’s. Their skin matched too. She looked for all the world like his daughter and Lotor made the perfect picture of a doting father. Sendak’s heart was aching and he wasn’t sure why.

The girl was calm and smiling again, and finally Lotor turned back towards where Sendak was standing.

“You’ve picked a very bad time to be good at your job,” Lotor said coldly as he walked past. “Nahela dropped her toy. Pick it up.”

Numbly Sendak did as he was told. Lotor was waiting for him outside and he offered the toy back to the girl but she only hid her face against Lotor’s shoulder, not daring to take it.

Lotor turned and walked away. He didn’t say anything else as Sendak followed, his mind still reeling. She was Altean. It was the Emperor’s orders to execute Alteans on sight, but she was just a child.

He watched as Lotor smiled at her and joked with her. He watched as Lotor bought her a sweet on a stick. He watched as Lotor showed her a magic trick, making a coin disappear and reappear behind her ear.

“Do you like games?” Lotor asked the girl. He’d stopped at a bench in an unobtrusive corner of the market area and sat down, settling the girl comfortably in his lap.

The girl nodded very seriously. “I’ll teach you a very fun game,” Lotor said with a smile. “It’s called fetch. Think of your most favorite food ever.”

The girl thought for a long time before she finally smiled. “Peritan Tarts.”

“Really?” Lotor asked, his eyes widening. “Me too.”

“My mama said they were the best thing in the world, but I’ve never tried one.”

“Well then, decision made. Now all you have to do is look at my friend here,” Lotor looked at Sendak pointedly. “And then you say fetch.”

“Fetch,” the girl said bravely, even though her voice wobbled. Sendak offered her the stuffed toy and she reached out to take it.

“You heard her,” Lotor said, something dangerous in his eyes as he stared Sendak down. “Fetch.” 

It sounded like _fuck off._ In essence, it was.

Peritan was a type of berry found only on Altea, and now that Altea was gone there would be no more Peritan Tarts. 

“What are you going to name your new friend?” Lotor asked as Sendak turned to go.

“Lolo,” the girl said and Lotor laughed brightly.

“That sounds like an excellent name,” he answered, and then Sendak was too far away to hear them talking anymore.

He wandered the market for an hour before making his way back. Lotor was still sitting on the bench but he was alone now. He was holding the tracker Sendak had planted in his boot.

“Lotor,” Sendak said, not sure where to start.

“Let’s play a game,” Lotor said, not looking at him. “It’s called the quiet game. You might even win for once.”

He stood and Sendak followed him to his ship and the training room. Lotor tossed his cloak aside and suddenly he was holding a sword and Sendak wasn’t quite sure where he’d gotten it from.

“Draw,” Lotor said coldly.

“I guess we’re not playing anymore,” Sendak said, and drew his sword.

Lotor charged and there was none of his bad form or insolence. He instantly had Sendak on the defensive and it was all Sendak could do to ward off his blows. Lotor was a breathtaking swordsman, he fought with liquid grace and more strength than Sendak had expected. 

He should have expected it- he’d had his hands on Lotor’s body, had felt the muscle there. He’d seen Lotor run and climb, his easy physicality on full display. Sendak hadn’t seen it, because he thought he’d already seen everything there was to see.

He remembered Haxus saying- _“He always had top marks. He was a serious kid.”_

Sendak could picture it easily now. There was nothing unserious about him as he fought. There was nothing but cold brutality in every line of his body, strength and power and cunning in every move.

It was the first time in a long time that Sendak had been forced to put all of himself into a bout and it was oddly exhilarating. Lotor’s blade came dangerously close to Sendak’s throat and a cold sweat broke out over his back. They were fighting with live steel and Lotor was angry. He wasn't in control and Sendak wasn't sure he had the skill to hold him off much longer. This was dangerous.

“I yield,” he said.

“No,” Lotor said, and kept coming.

“I yield,” Sendak repeated and tossed his sword aside. For a second he was certain that Lotor would simply cut him down, but then Lotor growled and, turning, kicked him in the chest. The blow was so surprising that he fell to the ground and stared as Lotor stood over him, breathing hard.

“You’re good,” Sendak said, feeling oddly dazed. “I would have treated you with more respect if I’d known.”

“Did you consider,” Lotor said, “that I might not _want_ your respect? The respect of a man like you makes me want to puke. You won’t fuck a whore but you’d kill a child.”

“I wouldn’t kill a child.”

“You thought about it.”

“She was Altean.”

 _“I’m_ Altean,” Lotor hissed.

“You-” Sendak’s eyes widened. “You’re the Emperor’s son.”

“And my mother was the Altean Alchemist Honerva.” Lotor scoffed. “Don’t pretend as if you didn’t know. It’s the worst kept secret in the Empire.”

Sendak didn’t know what to say. He’d known, in the abstract way you knew things that had no relevance. He’d never really considered the implications of it.

Lotor put away his blade. “I would have been content to play your hapless student until you got bored and gave up. But I showed you this now, I showed you the truth, so that you take me very seriously when I say-”

His eyes were flashing dangerously as he stared Sendak down. “If you plant a bug on me again- I _will_ kill you.”

“I understand,” Sendak said. He remembered asking what had happened to the last guard, and Lotor saying _I gutted him._

He hadn’t believed it at the time, but he believed it now.

“How wonderful that we understand each other,” Lotor said with a thin-lipped smile. “Now you’re going to go get your fighter and dock it in the hangar- and then we’re going back to Central Command and never speaking of this again. You’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”

Sendak rose to his feet. “Why don’t you ever use my name?”

Lotor's smile grew vicious and ugly. “You don't have a name, to me. To me, you are not a man. You’re a cog in a war machine, a tool. I've stolen you for now, to be my tool rather than my father's. And when I eventually return you, you'll slot right back into your place and go on to kill and enslave a great deal of innocent people. You disgust me.”

He turned and stormed out of the room. Sendak filed that away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica

* * *

Everything felt different.

Lotor acted as if the space station hadn’t happened and Sendak tried to follow his lead. But he wasn’t that good of an actor. His gaze kept lingering on Lotor now, on his strong shoulders and narrow waist, his calloused palms. He had the sorts of callouses you only got from years of hard work and training.

“He must like you,” Bogh said one evening during their unofficial shift change. Lotor was busy fucking some mechanic in his room, being louder than usual. The mechanic was making a lot of noise and Lotor felt the need to match him cry for cry like it was some sort of competition.

Sendak startled, the words _you disgust me_ ringing through his skull. He wouldn’t have cared if Lotor had said it to him in the beginning, but now the statement hurt. He felt a childish need for approval, to be found worthy. He tried to stamp it down.

“He didn’t kill you,” Bogh elaborated. “For the bug. He would have, most people.”

“Is that what happened to the last guard?” Sendak asked numbly.

“The last guard,” Bogh said with a frown as he picked a fruit out of a bowl standing on the dining table, “turned out to be a spy. For Haggar. She likes to keep tabs. He likes to kill them. It’s like a little game they play.”

“I’m not a spy for Haggar,” Sendak said slowly. “I’m not a spy for anyone. I was just trying- I’m trying to keep him safe.”

“Cute,” Bogh said. “He’s a better swordsman than you are. Than both of us.”

“Now I know,” Sendak said, and tried not to think of their duel. No one had put him on his back like that since he’d been a green youth. It made him feel- strange. “I’m going to bed,” he announced, standing. “Wake me if anything-” he broke off awkwardly.

Bogh laughed. “Relax,” he said. “He’s in there with Varmir. They’ll be at it all night and he’ll sleep like a baby all day tomorrow. It’s practically a vacation. You can go see your friend if you like. If it’ll make you feel better. I doubt there’ll be interruptions.”

“Ranveig’s fleet left,” Sendak said, oddly touched at the suggestion. At least Bogh liked him. That had to count for something. “Good night.”

Bogh waved and pulled out his blaster, getting ready to disassemble and clean it.

Sendak retreated to his suite and got ready for bed. And then he found himself staring sleeplessly up at the ceiling. He could still hear Lotor fucking, though it was fainter in his bedroom than it had been in the central room.

He wished he could go talk to Haxus, have a drink with someone normal for once. Thinking about Haxus led him to thinking about what Haxus had said, and curiosity got the better of him. He pulled out his datapad.

He was a Lieutenant, he had access to training records. It was easy to search for Haxus, and from there he pulled up his training class. There was a group photo and Sendak nearly dropped the datapad in shock.

Nineteen Galra and at the back, half-hidden behind a bigger teenager, was Lotor.

He looked to be about fifteen and he was so painfully small. He was small now, but it had been more obvious back then, standing next to full blooded Galra that towered over him. His expression was stony, his eyes cold as he stared directly into the camera. He didn’t look like the sort of boy that ever smiled. It was a puzzle piece that seemed to clash with the rest of the picture- a glacier inside a volcano.

Sendak looked for a long time, trying to reconcile the boy with the man. Finally he looked at the other faces, smiling as he saw Haxus, young and gangly. He recognized one of the girls, Gnov. She was a Commander now, one of the youngest in history to attain that rank. There were a few others he knew of that were in good positions now. There were many he’d never seen. And then, to his surprise, he recognized Bogh.

That explained their camaraderie, at least. Sendak was pleased to know that Lotor had had a friend at his side for all this time.

He checked the scores to find Haxus had been right. Lotor was at the top of his class in every respect. He had top marks in engineering and astronomy, piloting and swordplay. His tactical marks were off the charts, his logic tests impeccable. Sendak wasn’t sure if he was proud or annoyed to see that Lotor’s battlefield sim scores were higher than his own.

He would have made an excellent Commander. With his sword skills- he could have even been Emperor one day. But then, when he was seventeen, suddenly everything stopped. There were no more scores and metrics. There was a hospital stay, the details of which were classified, and then a slow descent into whatever he was now.

First there was nothing, then minor infractions. Insolence, public drunkenness, lewd behaviour. There were disciplinary measures snowballing into stints in the brig and even, at times, corporal punishment. He’d disrespected Ranveig, who’d been a Lieutenant at the time, and had gotten twelve lashes for it. Lotor’s record was mostly quiet after that, with the rare flare up of a complaint that was quickly resolved to the complainer’s satisfaction.

Sendak was shocked. Lotor had been on the way to becoming the greatest Commander the Empire had ever seen. And then something had happened and Lotor had stumbled, fallen. Had anyone tried to help him up? It seemed as though they just let their most promising student slip through their fingers and Sendak couldn’t understand how it had been allowed to happen.

Some strange compulsion had him digging deeper. He looked into every member of Lotor’s training class and the results were startling. Five of them were in exceedingly good positions for their ages. Three, including Gnov, were Commanders. One of the others ran his own colony, while the last was in charge of a space station. There were six members that were doing well for themselves but weren’t on the fast track, Haxus included. Then there was Bogh, who Sendak wasn’t sure how to categorize.

The remaining seven were dead.

Almost half of Lotor’s training class was dead. It was practically unheard of. Sendak read through the reports numbly. There were six accidental deaths. Each of them was a comedy of errors that would have been funny if it didn’t result in a corpse.

One had been inspecting a Galra facility that was being built. The descent through the atmosphere had been particularly rough and he’d vomited into his helmet. Once on the surface, there wasn’t a replacement available in his size. He inspected the facility anyway. A fatigued bolt came loose, a scaffold collapsed. He’d been standing underneath it to get out of the sun. He would have survived if only he’d been wearing his helmet.

There was a second story that was no less ridiculous. The man had been reassigned to a different fleet. He went to rendevouz with them and a minor malfunction on his fighter ship led to a mistake in the navigation system, steering the man towards a white dwarf star. Unfortunately he’d been napping after drinking too much the night before, and by the time he woke up he was caught in the star’s gravitational pull.

The third man was sent to supervise a newly conquered territory. There was a feast, an attempt for the conquered people to appease their new Galra overlords. There had been special food set aside for him, but he’d been annoyed at being served from a different plate. He’d insisted on eating what everyone else was. His assistants had tried to dissuade him. It had worked for a while but he was proud and unreasonable, and when dessert had come around he’d stolen a piece of pie from a passing platter. The pie was made with a fruit that was poison to Galra biology and he’d died, unceremoniously, after vomiting on the table.

They were all like that, and Sendak couldn’t help remembering the inelegant charade he’d witnessed in Ladnok’s rooms.

The seventh dead Galra, a man named Vrag, had been murdered in cold blood.

He’d been found in his room with his throat slit. The room had been locked from the inside, the hallway security cameras wiped of any evidence. That particular death had caused all of Central Command to buzz with fear and excitement. At the time Lotor had been nineteen. He’d been in the medbay, recovering from his twelve lashes.

Sendak flipped back to the photo of the class and stared into Lotor’s cold eyes.

 _“I gutted him,”_ he’d said, easily and with no remorse.

Sendak had a feeling Lotor had gutted Vrag too, and the six others. He should have been afraid. Instead he was angry. 

Lotor wasn’t rash, he didn’t act without provocation. Sendak wondered what they’d done to Lotor to deserve it.

* * *

There was a feast. There were always feasts. This one was the annual feast they held to mourn the destruction of Daibazaal. As a result it was very formal, and very boring.

Lotor was in attendance at the head table, as he had to be. Bogh and Sendak were in attendance too, in full armor down to their helmets, standing at attention behind Lotor’s chair.

Zarkon wasn’t there, the Emperor did not attend such things. But everyone else was at the mercy of the ceremony of it. The toasts, the reenactments.

It meant very little to Sendak. He’d been a child of four at the time. He didn’t remember much of the hasty evacuation. He remembered nothing of the planet itself. Instead he had his only memory of his mother and father, the both of them crying as they held him out towards a uniformed soldier. The soldier had taken him and carried him away.

Galra priorities were quite clear- soldiers, followed by children, followed by everyone else. They had an extensive army fleet, but not nearly enough ships to ferry the entire population of the planet to safety. So they prioritized the soldiers, and then the children.

It was a soldier, not his mother, holding his hand as he watched Altean ships destroy his home and his family, left behind on the surface. Afterwards they’d put the children in the brig. Not to be unkind, but simply because there was no other place on a Galra warship to put children.

Sendak still remembered the day, months later, when the Emperor had come down to inspect the cells turned dormitories. Emperor Zarkon had paused and pointed right at him.

“That one looks strong,” he’d said. “Put him in the training class a year ahead.”

Sendak had felt so proud at the time. He’d been five years old by then. He’d just lost everything that had meant anything to him. But his Emperor had looked at him, had said kind things about him and accepted him, and it had made him feel special and warm. It had been a light in the darkness, the only light. It was a light he yearned for- approval, acceptance, meaning.

He’d been taken into the army, given a life and a purpose and a new family. At the time he’d been so proud, so grateful.

Now, standing behind Lotor’s chair, he felt suddenly unsure. He thought back to being a child, lost and afraid and so painfully alone. They’d put a sword in his hand. For once he wondered if he might not have been better off with a toy.

What would have happened if someone like Lotor had come along? Someone to hold his hand and stroke his hair, to tell him it was going to be alright. There might have been a different path for him, if someone had taken an interest and given him a stuffed doll, a treat, a sweater.

Lotor was drumming his fingers on the table restlessly. Sendak tensed. Lotor was never restless. He made a point of being relaxed, composed, lazy even when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

Bogh was distracted by staring at an attractive soldier across the room and Sendak stepped on his foot to get his attention before jerking his chin at Lotor’s hand, his fingers tapping against the base of his glass.

Even through his visor, Sendak could see Bogh growing pale. He made a show of checking his communicator and bent down to whisper in Lotor’s ear. Lotor nodded. He stood.

Sendak and Bogh followed him out of the room.

They walked until Lotor slipped into a small storage room and then Bogh was taking off his helmet and offering it up, and Lotor was shoving his fingers into his mouth and vomiting.

“What-” Sendak said.

Bogh was already on his knees, rooting through Lotor’s pockets.

“How- when did you feel-” Bogh managed.

“A minute,” Lotor said. “Two. I- I-” he threw up again, this time without the help of his fingers.

Bogh pulled out a small case and opened it to reveal a sort of syringe. “Do you know-”

“I-” Lotor broke off, breathing hard. “I don’t- number three. Use number three.”

“Easy,” Bogh said, loading the syringe with a small vial of liquid. “Easy now, you’re fine.” He injected the liquid into Lotor’s thigh and Lotor made a small pained sound. He sagged against the wall and Bogh stood, taking the helmet full of sick out of his hands.

Lotor swayed and Sendak caught him, hefting him easily into his arms. He was so light. He smelled of vomit and sweat and fear, and underneath- flowers.

“We should get him to the medbay,” Sendak said.

“No,” Bogh said.

Lotor had passed out, so he didn’t say anything.

“He’s been poisoned,” Sendak hissed. “We have to-”

“We caught it in time,” Bogh said firmly. “The medbay would be worse. Come on.”

Bogh took them down service corridors back to Lotor’s rooms and left his vomit-filled helmet casually on the dining table before opening the door to Lotor’s bedroom. Sendak carried him in and laid him out in bed. He helped Bogh undress him and tuck him in under a blanket.

“Maybe we should call for a medic,” Sendak tried again. “We could-”

“No,” Bogh said. “Trust me. He’ll be sick as a dog for a few days but he’ll be fine. We caught it in time. He won’t thank you for involving anyone else in this.”

“Fine,” Sendak said, defeated. Lotor trusted Bogh. Sendak decided that he should too.

“I should,” Bogh said, looking through the still open door to the dining table, the helmet. That wasn’t going to be pleasant to deal with.

“Right.”

“Keep an eye on him,” Bogh said. “If he starts throwing up again, put him on his side.”

Sendak nodded. Bogh went out of the room. Sendak couldn’t help staring at Lotor, sleeping restlessly. He was pale and sweating. Without quite meaning to Sendak reached out and brushed a lock of hair away from Lotor’s forehead. His skin was hot to the touch.

Abruptly Sendak took a step back, unsettled by the closeness. It would be good to get a cloth, something cool. He looked around the bedroom. It was decorated lavishly, full of useless expensive-looking trinkets. There were three doors leading out of it and Sendak opened one at random, looking for the bathroom.

The first room was an office with enough books in it to be a library. It was extensive and impeccable, oddly austere. The second door led to a private training area. The third was the bathroom, and Sendak dampened a washcloth and brought it back to press to Lotor’s forehead. Lotor frowned but he seemed to sleep a little easier afterwards.

“I can take over,” Bogh said quietly and Sendak startled.

Bogh was watching him curiously from the doorway.

“It’s fine,” Sendak said. Bogh shrugged and walked away.

Sendak had been wondering, ever since he’d seen Lotor’s true skill with the sword, why he even bothered with guards. 

Now he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica

* * *

Sendak had been sitting in a chair by Lotor’s bedside reading reports on his datapad when Lotor woke. Wordlessly he offered up a glass of water.

Lotor shook his head.

“You should drink,” Sendak said.

“Not just now.” He sounded weak.

“Do you know who it was?”

“No.”

It was a lie. Lotor always lied.

Sendak thought of an Altean girl in a storage container. The Emperor hated Alteans, he hunted them ruthlessly throughout the universe. It wasn’t unheard of for him to reward Galra who captured Alteans and brought them before him to be executed.

Sendak had checked out the storage container, but whoever had paid for it- not Lotor, he’d never leave a child alone like that, he’d never bring an Altean to a Galra space station- had hidden their tracks. A soldier couldn’t afford it, but maybe a Lieutenant could.

Lotor had found out about the girl somehow. He’d kept to rough company since they’d come back from Vair-Vasal, but he’d met with Galra officers exactly once, at a card game.

Ladnok already had the favor of the Emperor. Sniv wasn’t particularly interested in it.

“Throk,” Sendak said.

Lotor didn’t seem surprised that Sendak had figured it out. He just seemed exhausted. “Don’t.”

Throk had been intending to gift the girl to the Emperor in the hopes of getting a promotion, but Lotor had spoiled his plan. Throk had taken revenge. The sheer audacity of it had Sendak boiling. “How did he figure out it was you?”

“Don’t,” Lotor said.

Suddenly anger turned to shame. “It’s because of me.”

When he’d docked on the space station he’d used his ID. He hadn’t thought he needed to hide- it was a Galra space station and he was a Lieutenant. He’d used his ID and it would be in the records. Throk could have checked. He knew that Sendak was Lotor’s guard.

“I’m going to kill him,” Sendak growled.

Lotor smiled weakly. “Don’t.”

“I’m going to break his face,” Sendak said. “And his arm. Maybe both his arms.”

“Break whatever you like, brute,” Lotor said, and Sendak wasn’t sure if he imagined the note of fondness in his tone. “But don’t kill him. Send in Bogh.”

Sendak nodded and stood, and then he sent in Bogh.

Lotor stayed holed up in his rooms for the next few days. Sendak spent that time watching Throk through the security feeds, learning his schedule. When Throk came in for his evening training session he found Sendak already in the middle of a set of practice forms.

“Your master let you off your leash?” Throk asked with a nasty smirk.

“Unfortunately not,” Sendak answered and finished the form before deigning to look over at him. Lotor’s leash, his firmly stated _don’t,_ was the only thing standing between Throk and death. “How about a spar? It’s been a while since I’ve had a worthy opponent.”

“Is that so?” Throk asked, warming up with a few stretches. “They do say the halfbreed doesn’t fight.”

“They say a lot of things. Some of them are true.”

“Which ones, I wonder?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you,” Sendak said. “If you win.”

They squared off against each other. Sendak could tell by Throk’s stance that he had some skill to back up his arrogance. Throk was the first to attack and Sendak parried the blow, getting the measure of him before deciding on a strategy.

Throk was good. Sendak was better.

He went on the offensive and took Throk by surprise, disarming him easily. He slammed the hilt of his sword into Throk’s jaw and there was a crack. Throk was too startled to scream at that, but he screamed when Sendak grabbed him and broke his arm.

“Next time- you’re dead,” Sendak said firmly and left Throk bleeding behind him.

When he returned to Lotor’s rooms it was to see Lotor up and about once more. He still looked too pale as he sat at the dining table in a loose white shirt and narrow black trousers. He was laughing at something Bogh had said and there was a half-eaten preajutus in his hand. When Sendak walked closer Lotor looked up.

“There’s blood on your face,” Lotor said mildly.

“There’s a lot more blood on Throk.”

“I hope he’s alive?”

“Unfortunately,” Sendak said.

“I’m surprised you held back.”

“You said don’t.”

“Good dog,” Lotor said, and picked up a fresh preajutus from a bowl on the table, tossing it Sendak’s way. “I do so like it when we get along.”

Before Sendak could take a bite he heard heavy footsteps in the hallway, and then the door burst open.

There was only one person who had leave to enter the Prince’s chambers without being invited.

Sendak caught a glimpse of Lotor going very still, very pale. There was a peculiar pinched expression over his face. Sendak didn’t see much after that because he was too busy falling to his knees and bringing his hand up to his chest, they all were.

“Emperor Zarkon,” Sendak and Bogh said.

“My lord father,” Lotor said.

“What is the meaning of this?” Zarkon demanded, his voice booming through the suddenly too small room. “What have you done? Why is Lieutenant Sendak running around after you?”

“My lord father,” Lotor said, “I can explain-”

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it from you. Lieutenant, stand.”

Sendak stood. It felt strange to look up at Zarkon’s face, he was used to being the tallest man in the room by now.

“Whatever trick he’s played to force you into his service, whatever threats he’s made- it’s over and done with. A posting has opened up on the border. I’m sure you must be ready to command a fleet of your own.”

It was everything he’d been working for over the course of his entire life, and suddenly all Sendak could think about was what Lotor had said to him after their duel.

He didn’t want to be a cog in a machine, he didn’t want to be someone’s tool. He wanted… he’d never really thought about what he wanted, just what was expected of him. He’d been set on a path when he was five and he was already well on his way. He’d reach the end of that path one way or another, no matter what he wanted.

But it didn’t have to be now.

Lotor had invited him to play a game, and he wanted to finish it.

“Thank you, sire,” Sendak said. “You honor me. But I’m afraid that at this time I cannot accept a new posting.”

The room grew tense and deathly silent. Zarkon’s nostrils flared. There was nothing to do now but continue, and Sendak found himself oddly giddy at the prospect of misleading- no, _lying to_ \- the Emperor.

“Prince Lotor did not threaten or trick me. It is the highest honor to serve a member of the royal family, and terminating my service prematurely would dishonor my agreement with him. I cannot lead troops if I am known to be the sort of man who does not keep his word.”

Zarkon seemed shocked. Of course he was- people did not generally make a point of saying no to him.

“Of course, I serve at the pleasure of the Emperor,” Sendak added. “If my Emperor commands me I will go, knowing I did everything I could to make my personal feelings known.”

There was a moment of silence, thick enough that it could have been cut with a knife.

“I respect your integrity, Lieutenant,” Zarkon said at last, and suddenly Sendak could breathe. “I see my son has not corrupted you with his shameful ways. I will allow this to continue, for now. See to it that I’m not disappointed with your conduct.”

“Of course, sire,” Sendak said, ducking his head. “Thank you, sire.” He hit his chest with his fist. “Vrepit Sa.”

Zarkon nodded and turned to leave, and it was like all the air had rushed back into the room.

For a long moment there was shocked silence, and then Bogh wheezed out- “Holy shit.”

Sendak turned to see Bogh and Lotor still on their knees. Sendak offered Lotor his hand, he was still recovering from the poison. Bogh could get up on his own.

For a moment Sendak thought Lotor was ignoring him, but then he reached out and took his hand. A strange jolt ran through him at the contact. He hadn’t held his hand out like a man might do for another to shake or clasp forearms, but like someone might do while courting a lover. And that was how Lotor had taken it.

“You told him you were staying,” Lotor said.

“Yes,” Sendak said. “I’m staying until you’re finished with me. We have a gentleman’s agreement, don’t we?”

“I’m not a gentleman.”

“I’m a soldier,” Sendak said. Lotor was standing now but he was still holding his hand. “I don’t get the chance for too many vacations.”

“If it’s a vacation you’d like, then we’ll have to go to Trakia.”

Trakia was a paradise planet, one of the most beautiful Galra-occupied planets Sendak had ever seen. He’d been there a few times on shore leave. It was lovely enough, but it was uninhabited. So unless Lotor’s next scheme involved going spelunking, Sendak didn’t particularly see the point.

“I quite enjoyed Vair-Vasal,” he said. 

Lotor smiled. There was some private joy in his eyes and Sendak was curious to see what he’d be up to next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	12. Arc III: Tripa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

They left Central Command a few days later and Sendak found himself feeling oddly relieved. The atmosphere was lighter when it was just the three of them. Bogh seemed less tense now that they weren’t surrounded by potential enemies. Sendak had never had cause to think of his fellow Galra in such a way. He’d always had an affinity for his own race, the understanding that they were all comrades in arms, standing shoulder to shoulder against any outside threats.

Throk’s poisoning attempt had made him realize that there was no such camaraderie. Galra could, and did, harm one another.

“What are you planning next?” Sendak asked Lotor during a game of Kotat.

Bogh was nearby, cleaning his blaster at the other end of the table. He smirked and didn’t even bother looking up.

“Planning?” Lotor asked innocently. “Why, I’m just a layabout prince, drinking and stealing and sleeping around. What plans could I possibly have?”

“So I’ll have to figure it myself.”

“I think you like figuring it out yourself.”

Kova jumped up on the table and casually knocked one of the blaster parts off of it. Bogh cursed and Kova hissed at him. Lotor tried to palm a card, thinking Sendak was too distracted to notice, but Sendak reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him. Lotor’s skin was very warm.

“I do,” Sendak said. “Like it.”

Lotor seemed at a loss for words, and then he looked down. Sendak was still holding him by the wrist. His hand encircled it so easily, and suddenly it was all he could think about. Lotor’s hands looked so small beside Sendak’s, his fingers long and elegant where Sendak’s were rough and blunt. Lotor had sword callouses on his palms and suddenly Sendak wanted to trace them with his fingertips. He wondered how they’d feel against his lips.

Abruptly, he let go and looked back at his cards.

He should have been keeping an eye on Lotor to stop him cheating but all of a sudden Sendak found he didn’t much care if he won or lost.

As such, Lotor had a decisive victory after only a few more hands, and a frown on his face.

“It’s no fun if you’re not trying,” he said testily.

“Don’t you ever get bored of Kotat?” Sendak asked.

Lotor gasped, his eyes widening. He looked the way another man might look if you’d just called his mother a whore.

“I want to play a different game,” Sendak said. “Have you heard of Tripa?”

“No,” Lotor said with interest.

“You’ll like it. It’s a game of strategy, war played out over a board. We don’t have a game board but we can improvise one.”

Lotor gathered the cards and put them away while Sendak dug through his pockets for coins. They would serve as decent replacement pieces. As for the board- he looked down at the table and drew his dagger.

“How attached are you to this table?”

“You intend to carve the board straight into it? How positively beastly,” Lotor said with a grin. He raised his eyebrow and gestured in invitation. Sendak began, carving straight lines into the wood to create a grid. As he set out the pieces, using different denominations of coins to differentiate between the types, he explained what they were meant to be and how they could move.

“The players take turns, moving one piece at a time,” Sendak said. “The object is to capture the other’s king.”

Lotor surveyed the board before him. Sendak had used the ‘tail’ side of his GAC pieces for Lotor, and the ‘head’ side for himself, so they could differentiate. 

“What do you think?” Sendak asked. “Will you play?”

“You’ve already mutilated my table,” Lotor said. “Alright. Let’s play. Who starts?”

“Heads does,” Sendak said with a smirk. “What would you say to making this more interesting?”

Lotor looked up at him sharply. “What do you propose?”

“A simple friendly wager,” Sendak said. He already knew what he wanted, and he had a feeling he was going to get it. This was Lotor’s first time playing and Sendak was very good. But Lotor was smart, there was a chance he might win. Sendak had to make the deal irresistible but not something he couldn’t go through with, in the event of his loss. “If you win, the next time we play master and slave, the slave will be me.”

Lotor leaned back in his chair. “Interesting.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the board. “The thing is, as I’m fairly certain I’m being hustled, I’m going to need you to sweeten the pot.”

“The air is so thick with innuendo I can’t breathe,” Bogh grumbled, picking up the pieces of his partially disassembled blaster and leaving for his suite.

Sendak was glad, because he didn’t want Bogh to hear how he was about to sweeten the pot. 

“When I’m playing your slave- I’ll dress as you like. Any way you like.”

“Oh,” Lotor said. His eyes were very intense, his smirk seemed less genuine than usual. His cheeks were flushed. “So- anything? I decide?”

“Anything,” Sendak said, thinking of the decidedly scandalous lingerie Lotor had worn on the two occasions he’d played slave. Sendak wouldn’t fit into any of his outfits, but he wouldn’t put it past Lotor to have something made custom.

“Anything. Or perhaps- nothing,” Lotor said, very carefully.

It wasn’t in Sendak’s nature to be submissive, but he let his posture loosen, let his face tip down a little so he could look up at Lotor through his eyelashes. “If that’s what master desires, this slave will obey, and gladly.” He tried to make his voice breathy and low, intimate. He wasn’t sure he’d succeeded, but Lotor’s blush deepened.

“Oh,” he said. His eyes were very dark now. His breathing seemed to come a little faster. He cleared his throat and looked back at the board. He was frowning. He wanted to win. “And what do you get if you win?”

“If I win, you’ll let me train with you,” Sendak said, back to himself. “For real. No more hapless student.”

“Oh,” Lotor said. He bit his lip. He was studying the board very carefully. “Fine. On one condition- I’ll be heads.”

“Fine,” Sendak said and stood. They switched chairs and Sendak was very careful not to let a sense of victory steal over his expression.

It was true that whoever started first had a slight advantage- they set the tone of the game. He’d expected Lotor to see it as Sendak trying to get a leg up from the very beginning. He’d thought Lotor might demand a switch in an attempt to gain control in an unfamiliar game.

But that wasn’t what Sendak had been up to.

Tripa was a complicated game, full of complicated strategy. They played. They battled for territory, battled to set up their troops and their tactics.

It was important to have a good view of the field, to see a few steps ahead and anticipate what your opponent was doing. It was important to be able to see the threats and opportunities before you, and each piece posed a different one. What a shame, that all the coins looked so similar to one another. What a terrible shame that the ‘tails’ pieces had their values marked clearly on them, while the ‘heads’ were just pictures of Emperor Zarkon’s profile and only their slightly varied sizes to differentiate between them.

Lotor was smart, he was careful. His battlefield sim scores were better than Sendak’s own. Maybe if they’d been playing with a real game board, where the pieces were quite clearly marked, he might have even won. But they were playing with coins on a scratched up table, and it was so easy to get confused.

Lotor didn’t make mistakes, not exactly. Rather, he failed to see opportunities. He put up a good fight, he even had Sendak sweating a few times, but in the end Sendak took Lotor’s king and smirked up at him.

“I win,” he said.

“So you did,” Lotor said. He didn’t look entirely displeased. His eyes were still dark. “Unfortunate, I was so looking forward to playing dress-up with you.”

“Keep it in mind,” Sendak found himself saying. “Maybe you can wager for that again, at a later date.”

“Maybe,” Lotor said. “Thank you for the game. I’d enjoy playing it again.”

“Next time we’ll play with real pieces.”

Lotor smiled thoughtfully and Sendak knew he’d just understood the trick he’d played.

“Yes. I train in the mornings. At seven.”

Sendak was pleased. Lotor kept to a soldier’s schedule. That explained why he was such a late riser. “That’s when I train as well. How curious that I’ve never seen you on the training deck.”

“Curious indeed.”

Lotor must have a private training area of his own. “I’ll report to your rooms tomorrow, then.”

“See that you do,” Lotor said, and that was that.

* * *

Sendak knocked on Lotor’s bedroom door in the morning. Lotor opened it wearing a plain black skin-tight training jumpsuit. His hair was pulled back into a simple braid and somehow that emphasized his sharp cheekbones, the elegant curve where his neck met his shoulder. Sendak had never seen him with his hair up before. Lotor stepped aside and Sendak walked in.

His bedroom was similar to his bedroom back on Central Command. There was a large window set into the wall across from the bed. The room was lavishly decorated, full of rare useless trinkets. Something a layabout prince might like. It was all a front, of course. It had to be- there were a great deal of people who got to see this room. There was only one door, standing open to show a large bathroom featuring a ridiculously huge tub.

Sendak could easily picture Lotor in it with a lover sitting on his lap, whispering sweet nothings while feeding him fruit. He could picture Keedrai, stroking Lotor’s hair, trailing his hand down Lotor’s chest. Shifting to straddle him and sinking down onto his hard cock while Lotor sighed, letting his head drop backwards-

Sendak tried to stop picturing it.

Lotor walked up to a plain section of wall and did something Sendak couldn’t see. It opened to reveal a training room.

It was smaller than the public one, but still plenty big enough. There was a rack for training swords, some equipment for lifting weights, a few powered down Sentry bots.

Lotor did a few stretches before activating his training sword and tossing Sendak one of his own.

It had the same weight as a normal sword might have, but the blade was a type of laser that would hold firm against one of its kind but pass harmlessly through flesh.

Sendak did a few stretches too. He felt oddly giddy.

Their last bout hadn’t been under the best circumstances and he wanted a chance to square off against Lotor for real.

“Begin,” Lotor said, and they circled each other.

Sendak lunged first and Lotor deflected his attack easily. They sparred. Lotor was cautious to start, assessing Sendak’s style and capabilities. And then he went on the offensive and it was just as breathtakingly exhilarating as the last time had been, but this time Sendak wasn’t afraid for his life so it was actually fun.

Lotor was very good, but Sendak had already known that. Now he could focus on his technique and try to get the better of him instead of simply trying to stay out of the range of his blade. It reminded him of his training bouts with Emperor Zarkon. Father and son were close in skill, so close that Sendak idly wondered what the result would be if they fought each other. He’d never thought anyone could defeat Zarkon, but now he wasn’t so sure.

The way they fought was entirely different, though. Lotor’s style, like his ship, was a mix of many different forms and styles.

That was another small discovery, another piece of the puzzle.

 _Us,_ he’d said, when he’d talked to Izak of engineers and the future. Sendak had wondered who’d designed Lotor’s ship for him, and now he understood. He understood so many things now.

But he couldn’t focus on that, all he could focus on was Lotor’s blade. Lotor used his speed and stamina to gain advantage, used acrobatic moves to put more force into his blows to counter his smaller stature.

Before long Sendak found himself on the ground with Lotor’s sword at his throat.

“I win,” Lotor said and stepped back, shaking out his arms.

“I think I preferred you as a hapless student,” Sendak said as he got to his feet.

Lotor laughed, the sound bright and uncomplicated, disconcertingly pleasant. “Most do. Again.”

They fought again.

Sendak ended up on his back again.

“Again.”

They fought again.

Sendak found himself awed. Lotor was so confident with the blade in his hand, _powerful_ in a way Sendak wasn’t used to seeing him.

“Again.”

He hadn’t lost this many times in a row since he’d been a boy. Maybe never.

“Again.”

Sendak was shocked to realize- he didn’t have it in him to go again. He was exhausted and Lotor still seemed oddly fresh, impatient as he twirled his blade.

“I’m- I can’t,” Sendak said, surprised at himself. “I’m spent.”

“So soon?” Lotor asked, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Why, Lieutenant. You disappoint me. Maybe tomorrow, then.”

“Definitely tomorrow,” Sendak said. He’d be back tomorrow. He’d win. One day. Maybe.

He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to. This was exciting in its own way, being bested. It was oddly delicious, coming from Lotor, the useless tart of a prince as Sendak had first thought of him. It was his own hubris, being thrown back in his face. It had been so long since he’d had cause to be surprised.

He thought back to their previous lessons, to setting his hands on Lotor’s shoulders and hips to fix his form. He thought of the strange satisfaction he’d felt when he’d kicked Lotor’s feet apart, the way Lotor had let him, his easy obedience. Now it was all turned on its head. They wouldn’t have that again.

“You must have been very bored during our previous training sessions,” Sendak said.

Lotor smiled a private little smile, and Sendak wasn’t sure what it meant. “They had their own, different, appeal.”

Maybe Lotor had enjoyed playing student to Sendak’s teacher. Maybe he’d enjoyed the way Sendak had stood close behind him and maneuvered his body, spoken quietly into his ear. Maybe.

Sendak knew a lot of him now, more than most people. Much more than most people. But he was still picking up puzzle pieces and trying to make them fit. That was enjoyable too. He enjoyed being pleasantly surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

They went to Thermica and Lotor wandered the markets, buying bolts of fine lace and silk. He chatted with merchants and made Sendak carry his bags. He handed out toys to the local children and showed them magic tricks. He went to brothels and whispered into the ears of the whores, and paid them well, and never once tried to touch them, much less fuck them.

They went to Dihirie and there Sendak made purchases of his own. A length of dark wood, a length of light. Lotor looked at him consideringly but didn’t ask. Maybe he enjoyed figuring it out on his own too.

They sparred. Sendak went into their spars expecting to lose and was never disappointed. But he was learning. He’d thought he was finished learning, had thought he was too good. But Lotor was better and it was a strange joy, to learn again.

In his free time Sendak carved Tripa pieces from the wood he’d bought.

In his free time Lotor did what he always did- slept around, gambled, pretended to be drunk.

It felt different now.

Sendak found himself jealous as he listened to Lotor’s moans echoing through the ship. He found himself scowling at Lotor’s conquests, walking disheveled and pleasantly dazed through the halls.

He tried to put it out of his mind. Bogh looked at him with sympathy and he tried to put that out of his mind too.

They went to Straks, and suddenly Bogh made himself scarce.

“Bogh’s been gone a while,” Sendak said mildly one day while having breakfast with Lotor.

Lotor smiled. “Yes. Does it trouble you to be alone with me? I promise, your virtue is safe.”

Sendak found himself unsure of his feelings at the thought. Lotor had meant for it to be reassuring. Sendak was not reassured.

“He has a lady friend here,” Lotor said, unusually forthcoming. “We try to visit when we can.”

“Really?” Sendak asked, thinking back to Lotor ditching him at the brothel. “He sounded like he was with a woman when I called him on Vair-Vasal. She called him back to bed.”

Lotor laughed, startled. “Oh dear,” he said. “You poor sweet lamb. That was Ghiwina. Bogh was playing cards with us at the bar when you called. I think he was glad for the chance to escape, he was losing quite badly at the time.”

“You’re a bastard,” Sendak said without any heat behind it, and Lotor laughed harder. That moment on Vair-Vasal seemed so far away, practically another lifetime. Two lifetimes.

“I noticed you don’t seem to have any lady friends,” Sendak said, buttering a piece of soft white bread. “It seems like an oversight, in your sexual conquest of the universe, to leave out so much of the population. You don’t enjoy sleeping with women?”

“They don’t enjoy sleeping with me,” Lotor said with a smirk. “No woman wants to sleep with a man who’s prettier than her.”

Sendak smiled.

“Women… complicate things,” Lotor added thoughtfully. “Women get pregnant.”

“You love children,” Sendak said. “You don’t want to be a father?”

“I’ll not bring any other Alteans into this world,” Lotor said. “Not this one. Maybe one day, if everything works out just right…”

He trailed off, staring off into the distance. It was the most honest conversation they’d ever had. It felt oddly intimate, and when Lotor looked back at him with a familiar smirk playing over his lips it was almost a relief.

“For your information, I have a great deal of friends who happen to be ladies. More than you could handle.”

“Is that so?” Sendak asked, raising his eyebrows. “I prefer to handle women very carefully, one at a time.”

“Lieutenant,” Lotor said, bringing his hand up to his chest and pretending to be scandalized. “I thought you didn’t take lovers.”

“I know,” Sendak said, “that that’s what you thought. I don’t know why.”

Lotor seemed surprised. “They say-”

“A lot of things,” Sendak interrupted. “You concern yourself too much with rumors.”

“Well then,” Lotor said. “I’m quite curious to hear about your conquests.”

“I keep my private life private.”

“Tease,” Lotor said with a pout.

“If one of us is the tease, it’s you,” Sendak said, flicking a bit of bread at him while Lotor dodged with a laugh.

* * *

The day passed oddly peacefully. Straks was a beautiful planet and Lotor seemed content to simply enjoy the scenery. They took hoverbikes out of the city and raced through fields of golden ripening grain and past neat rows of fruit trees in vast orchards. Lotor seemed to know the area quite well, taking them to a lake in the countryside shaded by lush trees.

“Care for a swim?” Lotor asked.

“Are you trying to catch an eyeful of me naked?”

“I could see you naked anytime I liked,” Lotor said, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Is that so?”

“All I’d have to do would be to check the security footage. From your shower.”

Sendak’s mouth dropped open in shock. Lotor was laughing as Sendak stomped over. He didn’t fight when Sendak picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, and then dumped him into the lake.

Lotor came up looking like a drowned cat, still laughing.

“Really?” Sendak asked incredulously. “There’s cameras- _there?”_

“It’s for security!” Lotor protested, completely unrepentant. “I don’t look. I don’t- I promise. I wouldn’t. It’s your room- I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that. I swear. It’s for security!”

Sendak narrowed his eyes. “How’s the water.”

“It’s fine,” Lotor said and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He started unbuttoning his shirt.

It was a bad idea. Sendak knew it was a bad idea even as he raised his hand and very slowly, very deliberately, unclasped one of the latches keeping his breastplate in place. Lotor froze. Sendak unclasped the others and let the breastplate fall to the ground. Then he took off the shoulder guards, the gauntlets, the boots.

As he stripped he kept his eyes on Lotor’s. When he started unzipping the jumpsuit he wore under the armor Lotor abruptly became very interested in looking at anything but him. He tilted his face down, turning slightly away as he took off his own clothes and threw them, sopping wet, to the shore.

Sendak was feeling brave, but not brave enough to go completely nude. He left his underwear on and walked into the lake. The water was very fine.

He said as much. Lotor splashed him in the face. Sendak growled and Lotor splashed him again, so Sendak moved to grab him. They wrestled for a while, Lotor laughing. He was wily, trying to keep a hold of him was like trying to catch a fish with his bare hands. But then Sendak managed to grab one of his wrists and there was no way for Lotor to twist away from him. It was a losing battle for him after that. He might have been the better swordsman, but he was small and Sendak was strong.

“Wrestling’s not your game,” Sendak said once he had both of Lotor’s wrists trapped behind his back in one of Sendak’s hands. He had his other arm wrapped like a vise around his chest, pinning him against Sendak’s body behind him so he’d stop trying to wriggle away. “You’re a runt.”

“You’re a brute,” Lotor said, breathing hard.

Lotor was very warm against him. There was a fading love bite high on his neck, just below his ear, and Sendak wanted to cover it up with one of his own. It would be so easy. He could just lean forward a little, press his lips there, open his mouth. Lotor’s skin was so soft and delicate, it would bruise easily. He’d wear Sendak’s mark for days before it faded, and everyone would know not to touch him.

Lotor was trembling against him.

“Let go,” he said, and Sendak realized with a start that his lips were already just a breath away from Lotor’s skin. He hadn’t realized he’d moved. He let go. Lotor swam for shore.

“Are you alright?” Sendak asked. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

“The water’s too cold.”

The water was fine.

Sendak followed him. Lotor pulled a sheet out of the saddlebag on his hoverbike and wrapped it around his shoulders. He had a second one too, and tossed it over to where Sendak had left his armor. Sendak ignored it in favor of lying down in a sunny patch of grass.

Lotor sat with his back against a tree and a book in his lap, bundled up in the sheet.

“If I take a nap, are you going to be gone when I wake up?” Sendak asked.

“Maybe,” Lotor said with a small smile.

“I suppose I’ll have to risk it.”

Lotor laughed and Sendak turned his head to watch him. Lotor was watching him too, trying to hide a blush behind his book. His eyes drifted down Sendak’s body before he forced himself to look away.

“Read out loud,” Sendak said. “That way I’ll know you’re still here.”

“I’ll have to start from the beginning,” Lotor said, and started from the beginning.

The book was a novel, a story about a dashing rogue who went about robbing the rich and giving to the poor, having lots of adventures and exciting escapes along the way. The main character was so similar to Lotor in his mannerisms it was as though he’d read the book once as a child and decided to rewrite himself. Cold lonely boy turned dashing rogue overnight, like a magic trick.

Except it hadn’t been magic. It had been an accident, an injury, a hospital stay. It had been a whipping and a boy with his throat slit behind a locked door, six more corpses piling up as if by coincidence. Five Galra, too high up in the ranks too soon. They hadn’t gotten there alone. Lotor was behind it all somehow, masterfully pulling strings.

Lotor’s voice was smooth and rich, sweet as honey. Sendak had been halfway serious about the nap, but now he forced himself to stay awake and soak in everything about this moment. The sunshine, the breeze over his damp skin, the soft cool grass beneath him. And Lotor, in an honest mood for once. There were birds singing in the trees, insects buzzing by. It was a perfectly golden summer day.

Once Lotor cut him loose Sendak would be a Commander, and then his life would be spent on cold ships, with cold people. His days would be ruled by protocol and military schedules, and there would be no time for games.

But for now, there was grass under his back, and sunshine on his face, and Lotor’s voice filling the spaces where his thoughts faltered. For now, he was warm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

The sun was starting to set when Lotor shut his book decisively and stood. Sendak took that as his cue to stand as well. He got dressed and didn’t watch as Lotor did the same. His clothes, having received a thorough dunking, were still damp.

They made their way back to the ship. It was empty and dark, Bogh was still out. Sendak reached for the bowl of fruit standing on the table and Lotor slapped his hand away.

Sendak scowled.

“Stop that,” Lotor said. “You’ll spoil your appetite. We have dinner plans.”

“You could have told me.”

“I just did.” Lotor waltzed off to his rooms to change into dry clothes. Sendak grabbed his cloak while he waited but soon enough Lotor was back in narrow trousers and tall shiny boots, a silk white shirt. He wore a knee length coat over it all made of fine brocade.

“Where are we off to?” Sendak asked. “I feel under dressed.”

“I have to defend my honor, now that you’ve said I don’t have lady friends,” Lotor said. “Bring those.” He pointed to the bolts of cloth he’d bought on Thermica. Sendak did as he was told.

The streets were quieting as people went home for dinner, and then they were standing in front of a store featuring rather raunchy displays of lingerie. The sign on the door said ‘closed.’ Lotor pushed it open and held it for Sendak. He locked it after.

They went to a back room and were instantly surrounded by light and warmth, the smell of rich food and good wine. And eight very excited women.

“Tor!” they squealed and swarmed while Lotor laughed, greeting each of them in a whirlwind of names Sendak didn’t catch. This was the brothel turned dress shop, the women that had murdered their head of house. They didn’t look like they could murder a fly, but Sendak knew well by now that looks could be deceiving.

After Lotor’s arrival had been properly marked the women turned their attention to Sendak. They pulled the cloth out of his hands and admired it, and then they admired him.

“Who’s this, Tor? A new guard?” 

“Or is he your lover?”

“He’s cute.”

“You don’t usually like them so big.”

“Does he like women or is he like you?”

“Forbidden fruit.”

They laughed. Sendak looked over the tops of their heads beseechingly at Lotor. Obviously Lotor was no help. He was already sitting at the table and pouring wine. The women dragged Sendak over too, and had him sit across from Lotor.

“What’s his name, Tor?”

A shadow passed over Lotor’s face, there and gone in a flash. Maybe he regretted what he’d said, back on the space station after their duel.

“Doesn’t he speak?”

“Being surrounded by so many beautiful women leaves me tongue tied,” Sendak said.

“Oh my,” the women tittered.

“My name is Sendak.”

“Aramina,” one of the women said and offered him her hand. He took it and pressed a gentle kiss to the backs of her fingers. She fanned herself dramatically but he could tell it wasn’t entirely for show.

“You’re handsome enough I would have slept with you for free,” she said with a flirtatious smile. 

She was very beautiful, her long straight hair so blond it was nearly white. Her skin was yellow-pink, her blushing cheeks a bright red. Sendak tugged on her hand lightly and tumbled her into his lap. He made sure she landed softly, his armor was hard and she was only wearing a gauzy dress.

“Is that so?” he asked, and her blush deepened. “But you’re too beautiful for me. You’d steal my heart only to cast me aside for another, leaving me a lovestruck fool to wander the universe in anguish.”

“Flatterer,” she said, giddy. The other women seemed a little giddy too. Sendak looked over to where Lotor was sitting, watching. He was very still, his eyes dark.

“You think so?” Sendak asked, looking back into her face. She found this whole thing very thrilling. “I’ll prove it to you.” He gently took her by the chin. He very carefully tilted their faces together, giving her the opportunity to pull away if that was what she wanted. She wasn’t going to pull away. He didn’t need to check to see if Lotor was watching.

He kissed her and she made a soft sound of pleasure. He deepened the kiss as he sank his other hand into her hair. It felt very fine, but not quite as fine as silk.

When he pulled back she seemed a little dazed and Sendak took her hand and pressed her fingers to his neck where she could feel his pulse.

“See how my heart races for you,” he murmured, staring at Lotor. His heart was racing because of the way Lotor was staring back. “And after just one kiss.”

“Oh my,” she whispered.

“See?” He gave her a smile. “You’d ruin me. For my own safety, I’ll have to ask you to kindly dismount.”

She laughed as she stood. Sendak didn’t think Lotor would accuse him of being made of stone again.

Dinner was served. The food was very good, the company even better. The women bullied and teased Lotor mercilessly and seemed to be utterly delighted when Sendak joined in.

They presented Lotor a gift, a tiny red thing made of satin with some sort of belt or corset and too many straps and laces.

“What a curious handkerchief,” Sendak said, inspecting it with appropriate befuddlement. “But why all the straps?”

The women tittered.

“Did you wear the last one, Tor?”

“He wore the black one,” Sendak said. “And the white one. My compliments to the talented seamstresses.”

Lotor was as red as the satin thing as he stuffed it- albeit very carefully- into his pocket.

“Tor! You never tried them on for us!” Aramina cried out in mock indignation. “He’s quite shy,” she added in a stage whisper to Sendak.

Sendak choked out a laugh and nearly had wine coming out of his nose. “Is he?”

Another woman spoke up. “Why, he was blushing like a virgin when we dressed him as a woman-”

“A- you did what?” Sendak asked.

“Hollis-” Lotor said, infinitely pained.

The woman that was talking had dark curls and startlingly blue eyes, and she shushed Lotor without skipping a beat. “Don’t interrupt, Tor. He hates this story,” she added with a wicked smile and a wink sent Sendak’s way.

“I, for one, love it already,” Sendak said.

One of the women topped up his wineglass. He drank. The wine was very good. He found himself enjoying everything about this evening, except for the fact that Lotor was seated so far away.

“Anyway,” Hollis said. “We dressed him as a woman-”

“You’re not telling it right,” a pretty young thing with lovely blue skin and four amber eyes said. “You have to start with the why-”

“I’ll tell it,” another woman spoke up. She looked like a Galra hybrid. She had very broad shoulders. “There was a man,” she continued. “A very bad man. He’d hire girls, and get them to come to his home, and then he’d do bad things. We knew enough not to go, but there are other girls, you see. And they needed the money, and maybe they didn’t know. So- we sent Tor.”

“He looked so pretty,” Aramina said with a pout. She seemed to be the ringleader of the group. “But he doesn’t want to dress up again.”

“Don’t interrupt,” the blue woman said.

“Right,” the Galra hybrid said. “We dressed him up, and we sent him over. And when the bad man let him in Tor punched him right in the face!”

“I kicked him in the balls, first,” Lotor said primly.

The women laughed, Sendak laughed too. They topped off his wine. At this rate he was going to be very drunk. Suddenly he couldn’t find a single thing wrong with that.

“We should dress you up too,” Aramina said, looking at him consideringly. “Come- take off your armor, we’ll take your measurements.”

The women were suddenly very excited by the prospect of dressing him up, or maybe by the prospect of removing his armor.

Sendak pushed their hands away with a laugh. “In front of all of you? I’m quite afraid for my virtue.”

“Why, darling,” the dark-haired woman, Hollis, said. “Are you a virgin?”

“I wouldn’t admit it if I was,” Sendak said easily. “You’d probably draw lots to see who’d get to deflower me.”

There was a thoughtful discussion about which of the women deserved the honor of doing the deflowering. There was more food, more wine, more stories and laughter. They moved to a sitting room and smoked something that smelled very sweet and made Sendak’s head spin pleasantly. They recounted the story of the murder of their head of house in a way that sounded fantastically hilarious.

They teased Lotor. They teased Sendak. They poured more wine.

By the time Lotor stood to leave Sendak was swaying on his feet, and they suffered through a drawn out series of goodbye kisses.

“You really must visit more often,” Aramina said, holding Lotor’s hands and looking very serious. “And bring this one with you. We like him.”

The women laughed. There were more kisses.

Finally they were leaving and Lotor ducked under his shoulder to steady him as they walked through the silent streets. It must have been very late. There’d been so much wine.

“You’re drunk,” Lotor said with laughter in his voice.

“Incredibly,” Sendak agreed.

“I’m appalled,” Lotor said. “You’re on duty, you’re supposed to be my guard.”

“You can be the guard tonight.”

“If I’m the guard, what does that make you?”

Sendak thought about it for a moment. “Why, I’m the dashing layabout prince. Drinking, stealing, and so on. Mostly the drinking, at present.”

“I see.”

“I could steal something,” Sendak said, looking around. “But I might fall over.”

“Better not, then,” Lotor laughed.

For a while there was silence, but silence only meant that Lotor was thinking. “You know, I’ve never seen them so charmed before.”

“I can be very charming.”

“And here I was, thinking you didn’t fuck.”

“I don’t,” Sendak said, “ _fuck.”_ He managed to put all of the distaste he felt for the concept into that one word. “I make love. You can’t do that without loving someone first.”

“You’re a romantic,” Lotor said. He sounded surprised.

“Yes,” Sendak said. Lotor felt very good pressed up against his side, and he was very drunk. So. “The first time I fell in love, I was nineteen.” He said it with all the solemnity of sharing a secret.

“It was a boy in my training class. He was very handsome. And I was convinced he had no idea I existed. Which was very silly, in retrospect, because there weren’t so many of us in the training class, and even at nineteen I was already the largest of all of them.”

“I thought you kept your private life private,” Lotor murmured.

“You’re my loyal and trusted guard, so obviously you’re sworn to secrecy.”

“I see,” Lotor said with a bit-off laugh. “In that case- do continue.”

“So anyway, I thought he didn’t know I existed. Which was silly, as I mentioned. And I was nineteen. You have to imagine me as I was then- my hands too large for my body, my ears too large for my face. I was so painfully awkward, so painfully lovesick. I had no idea how to act on my feelings, and I was too afraid of being turned away to say anything directly.”

He fell silent. He wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t realize this was a bad idea.

“So what did you do?” Lotor asked.

“I-”

This really was a very bad idea. He was breaking Jakat’s confidence by telling Lotor. But Lotor wouldn’t know him, and it had been so long ago. And he wanted to tell him. He wanted Lotor to understand him. And this was such a big part of who he was.

“You’ll laugh,” Sendak said at last.

“Maybe,” Lotor said. “But now I’m very curious.”

“I wrote him a poem,” Sendak said. “And slipped it under his door. I signed it- your secret admirer.”

“Oh my,” Lotor said with a laugh that sounded kind rather than cruel. “Not just a romantic- a _hopeless_ romantic. This just keeps getting better.”

“I wrote him poems nearly every night,” Sendak said wistfully. 

“What sorts of poems?”

“Oh, you know.” Sendak gestured vaguely. “The sorts of things a nineteen year old would write.”

“Would you tell me one?”

He didn’t really remember any in full, and he wouldn’t tell Lotor even if he did. But he remembered the general sense of it, the feeling behind it. He remembered how much Jakat had hated them. How he’d laughed. It had been sweet at the time, in its own way. Sendak thought that maybe Jakat wouldn’t mind so much, to have someone else laughing at Sendak’s first clumsy attempts at romance.

Sendak stopped in the middle of the empty street. He very carefully stepped back from Lotor, and then sank to his knees before him and took his hands, gazing up at him soulfully. Lotor seemed surprised, his lips parted softly.

“Darling,” Sendak started. “You are as bright as fire, as strong as steel. You disarm me with one glance as easily as you disarmed Rodak yesterday at training.”

Lotor let out a startled laugh.

“I wish you’d open to me, as a flower opens to the sun.”

Lotor laughed harder.

“Shut up, I didn’t mean it like that,” Sendak grumbled, fighting not to laugh himself. “I’d barely figured out how my own cock worked at that point. Um. I’ve lost my place.”

He frowned and Lotor was still laughing. “In my dreams, your sword glistens like starlight. My heart yearns for you, my desire for you burns as hot as the flames of the Kral Zera-”

“Stop,” Lotor choked out. “You really must stop. Stand up, you fool.”

He crouched to help Sendak up and they were walking again.

“So you left him poems,” Lotor said. “And then what?” His voice was very sweet and tender, like he was yearning for something too. Sendak wondered if Lotor had ever had such boyish fancies, young fumbling love. Maybe he hadn’t. The thought of it was terribly sad.

Everyone deserved such things. Maybe Lotor might share in that right of passage, if Sendak shared it with him. Jakat would like it, if the story of their youthful love brought someone joy.

“And then, one night, he caught me,” Sendak said. “It turned out he knew I existed after all. It turned out, amazingly, he loved me too. But he really insisted that I stop writing him poems.”

“So there was a happy resolution,” Lotor said.

“Of sorts. We were together for a while. We were each other’s firsts, in all things. It was very clumsy, of course. There was a lot of sneaking around. But it was good. It lasted longer, probably, than first love tends to do.”

Sendak considered stopping then, before the inevitable ending. It was a happier story that way. But this was a day for truth, so he continued.

“And then our training finished and we were assigned to different fleets, so we decided it was best to end it. I must have cried myself to sleep for months, but that is the way of life. He moved on, I did as well.”

“Do you still keep in touch?”

“Yes,” Sendak said quietly. “The love has faded, but the… _weight_ of it remains. You don’t forget such things. It’s like a scar on your heart and sometimes, it twinges. Not always unpleasantly. Every year, for his birthday, I send him a poem. They aren't love poems, not anymore. But it's enough to know they make him smile.”

“Oh,” Lotor breathed out. “I never knew… this side of you.”

“Very few people do,” Sendak said, hoping Lotor understood the full enormity of what he was sharing.

“So you’ve really never… you’ve never had sex, without being in love?”

“Once,” Sendak said with a wince. It wasn’t a pleasant memory. “After my first battle. Tensions were high, adrenaline, that whole thing. Someone propositioned me, I accepted. I felt so empty after. It was awful, worse than nothing. I felt… dirty and- _used._ Raw. Unsatisfied.”

“I’m sorry,” Lotor said quietly.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Sendak said. “I did it of my own free will. I called-” he caught himself with a sharp inhale. He’d been about to say Jakat’s name. That wasn’t right. What had happened between them was precious, and private. “My old lover. I called him after. We spoke for a long time. It gave me more peace than fucking ever could have. I didn’t try _fucking_ again.”

For a long time Lotor was very quiet. And then- “Have you been in love since?”

Sendak took a deep breath. They were nearly at the ship now. He was probably going to regret this conversation in the morning, if he even remembered it.

“Love is a delicate thing,” he said at last. “But vicious, too. It’s difficult for love to bloom in cold corridors, on battlefields. But it’s resilient, and it can bloom in your very soul. I’ve had the joy of it a few times since. Have you ever been in love?”

He was certain Lotor wouldn’t answer. Their walk was finished, they were at the ship. Lotor opened the hangar door and they stepped inside.

“I’m not sure,” Lotor said at last, almost a whisper. “What does it feel like?”

“It’s difficult to describe. It’s different every time.”

“What does it feel like, to love someone you can’t have?”

“It feels like a cold weight settling in your gut,” Sendak said quietly. “It feels like your heart being pulled out of your chest, your soul ripped apart. It feels like drowning.”

Lotor helped him to his rooms and sat him down on his bed.

“Yes,” he said at last. “If that’s the case, then yes.” He looked at Sendak for a long painful moment. “I shouldn’t have picked you. I should never have involved you in any of this. You’re-”

He broke off uncertainly. “You’re nothing like what I expected.”

“Neither are you,” Sendak said. And- “I’m glad you did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

Sendak woke with a monstrous headache, sore from sleeping in his armor. He could remember very little of the previous night, and what he could remember left him full of dread. He’d shared too much. He’d spoken too freely. But at least he’d never said Jakat’s name.

He could tell by the faint vibration of the ship that they were moving, so that meant they’d left Straks.

He undressed. He showered, peering about nervously for any tell-tale signs of cameras. He couldn’t find any and let himself relax. There were two options- the first was that Lotor had been lying about the security feeds after all. The second was that he hadn’t been, and that he wouldn’t impose on Sendak’s privacy. He found the second more likely, and was oddly appeased by his promise.

Sendak dressed again and walked out into the main room. Lotor was sitting at the dining table, holding a book in one hand. With the fingers of his free hand he was absently stroking the scratches Sendak had left in the wood when he’d carved the Tripa board.

“Good morning,” Sendak said carefully.

“Good afternoon,” Lotor said with a small smile. “You missed our training session. Perhaps it was because you were distracted by your desire, burning as hot as the flames of the Kral Zera-”

Sendak took a preajutus out of the fruit bowl and pegged it at Lotor’s head, making him duck with a laugh.

“I see we’re headed somewhere new,” Sendak said, sitting down. The breakfast spread was still laid out despite the late hour. He poured himself a glass of juice and buttered a slice of bread.

“Yes,” Lotor said, turning back to his book. “It’s time for the next scheme.”

Sendak paused. “I’ll admit, I’m not quite sure I’ve figured out the last.”

Ever since they’d left Central Command Sendak wasn’t sure what Lotor had been up to. He’d done what he usually did, but unlike usually- it hadn’t seemed to amount to anything of substance.

It had been pleasant. They’d laughed and shopped and swam in a lake, and Lotor had managed to get him drunk and share his secrets.

But there was no heist, no assassination attempt, no hustling or racketeering, or-

“Oh,” Lotor said, looking up at him with a surprised smile. “That whole thing- just now- that wasn’t… there was no scheme. That was more like, an intermission.”

“An intermission?” Sendak asked, furrowing his brow. He wasn’t used to Lotor doing things without shades of ulterior motives clouding the air.

“Yes,” Lotor said. “I wanted… a break. A chance to relax, to be at ease. I needed a moment of calm, to breathe.”

“Did you get it?”

“Yes,” Lotor said with a soft smile. “We’re entering the end game now. The players are… quite formidable. I’m afraid this next game won’t be as fun as the ones that have come before.”

“I’m ready,” Sendak said, “to play along.”

“In that case,” Lotor said, taking a slice of fruit off the breakfast tray. “When we land, I’m going to need you to dress in your Imperial Armor. I’m going to need my shenanigans to have the appearance of Imperial approval.”

“I see,” Sendak said. “I hope you’ve left me enough time to recover from my hangover. Which is entirely your fault, by the way.”

“I have,” Lotor said with a small smile. “We land tomorrow morning. You have the day. Spend it as you like.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll tell me the nature of the game in advance?”

Lotor’s smile widened even as it grew somehow grim. “It’s the game we’ve been playing all along,” he said. “The game of kings.”

* * *

In the morning Sendak dressed in his old red and gold Imperial Armor. It felt- clanky. Bulky. Unpleasant in so many small private ways. But Lotor had asked, and he’d agreed. He found himself running his fingers over the black armor with longing. But Lotor had asked, and he’d agreed.

He went out into the main part of the living area and stopped dead in his tracks. Bogh was there, also wearing the Imperial armor of a Lieutenant. He hadn’t realized Bogh was an officer, but that wasn’t what had so caught his attention.

Lotor was standing in the middle of the room. He was wearing armor too.

Sendak had never seen Lotor in armor. It was-

It was-

Dark, with orange and blue accents. Abruptly Sendak realized that Lotor’s armor matched Kova’s coloring, and maybe at another time he might have laughed. Now- he was dumbstruck. He’d never seen Lotor in armor before.

He looked strong, powerful. The unique design made him stand out. The heeled boots made him taller. The half-skirt he wore accentuated his hips, his narrow waist. His shoulder guards made him seem… wide.

“What…” Sendak managed.

Lotor smirked at him. He looked the very picture of a Galra Prince, his hair cascading down his back like moonlight.

“You’re…”

“Try to keep it together, Lieutenant,” he said flippantly. “And don’t speak. You’re a lowly guard. Your prince will do your speaking for you.”

Lotor snapped his fingers and Kova ran out from his favored spot under one of the cabinets, jumping easily to perch on Lotor’s shoulder.

“Come,” Lotor said with quiet authority and led the way. Suddenly it was very easy to follow.

Lotor’s posture was very upright, very stiff. Everything about him other than his long hair and custom armor read _military._ It was oddly thrilling, but Sendak found he missed Lotor’s easy manner.

They left the hangar and Sendak was surprised to see they were in a shipyard surrounded by Galra ships. Previously Lotor had kept to territories outside Galra control, but this was an occupied planet. Freshly occupied, judging by the sheer number of troops, the particularly beaten-down expressions of the locals. Some of them looked outright beaten.

There was a child crying in the dirt, sitting in the shadow of a warship. Lotor paid him no mind.

Sendak swallowed and kept his eyes forward. None of this felt right.

They met with a column of soldiers and the head one saluted lazily. “Prince Lotor.”

Lotor regarded him coldly.

“This is how you greet your prince?”

The soldiers exchanged nervous looks.

 _“Kneel,”_ Lotor ordered sharply.

They knelt and brought their fists up to their chests before shouting “Vrepit Sa!” in unison.

“Passable,” Lotor said. He sounded bored as he looked around the shipyard. “Who is in charge of this colony?”

“Commander Porvok,” the head soldier said. After a moment of enduring Lotor’s cool unimpressed look, he added, “...sire.”

“Take me to him.”

“Yes, sire,” the soldier said. The others fell in line behind them as they walked through the streets of a cowed city. There had been battle here very recently, maybe as recently as a few weeks back. There were a great deal of burned out buildings, a great deal of crying children. There were bloodstains on the walls, the streets.

Sendak had seen the aftermath of battle before and it hadn’t troubled him, but now he felt guilty. This was what his people did. This was what he would do, too. Conquer, kill, destroy.

Lotor asked the soldiers pointed questions and they answered to the best of their ability. They seemed very uncomfortable. The natives looked at Lotor with thinly veiled fear and hatred. Here was another Galra, come to crush them under his heel.

They arrived at a palace. There were banners featuring Zarkon’s sigil draped over the walls. The palace was elegant and beautiful, the banners crude and hideous.

“I wasn’t told there’d be an inspection,” a giant Galra in the uniform of a Commander said from the top of the palace steps. Commander Porvok. There was a local woman standing beside him. She flinched at his tone. There was a bruise over her face.

Lotor didn’t seem concerned as he walked up the steps.

“I do not answer to you,” Lotor said. “And I can do as I like. I am your prince, and you will kneel.”

“I won’t kneel for the likes of you,” Porvok hissed. “I’ve heard all about you. You can dress up in armor but everyone knows you’re a drunk and a whore, a useless-”

“You will go to your knees,” Lotor interrupted. His tone was unpleasant and invited no argument. “Or I will have my men put you there.”

Sendak was surprised that he was doing this here, on the steps of the palace in front of everyone. A Commander did not kneel in the presence of his men. He might have, if they were doing this in private. But it seemed like Lotor was trying to humiliate him on purpose.

Porvok was obviously furious. He had his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Sendak and Bogh were Lieutenants, and army protocol meant that none of Porvok’s soldiers would move against them.

It was true that the title of prince was unearned, not like the title of Commander. And yet- a prince was still higher in the ranks. Lotor could, technically, order Sendak and Bogh to put Porvok on his knees, and no one would stop them. That would be more embarrassing than if Porvok chose to kneel on his own.

Lotor waited expectantly as Porvok considered his options. Slowly, he sank to put one knee on the ground. “Vrepit Sa.”

“Sire,” Lotor supplied helpfully. “You will address me as sire. Or as Prince Lotor. Please feel free to try this again.”

Porvok gritted his teeth with a scowl. Lotor had just made a lifelong enemy. “Vrepit Sa,” Porvok forced out. “Prince Lotor.”

“Very good,” Lotor said, looking past him. “You may rise, Commander Porvok.”

Porvok did what he was told. The local woman bowed uncertainly.

“Welcome,” she whispered. Porvok, still angry at what Lotor had done, suddenly realized that there was an outlet for his aggression.

“You’ll speak when spoken to,” he spit out as he turned on the woman, raising his hand to hit her.

The woman flinched and whimpered, Kova hissed, Porvok gasped in confusion. Belatedly Sendak realized that he’d stepped forward and grabbed Porvok by the wrist, stopping his blow. He felt the same way he’d felt at the feast when he’d punched Janka. Out of control with fury, shocked at his own breach of protocol.

Lotor didn’t seem particularly concerned as Porvok wrenched his hand out of Sendak’s hold.

“You’d lay hands on a superior officer?” Porvok roared. “I’ll have you whipped for this, court-martialed-”

“He is _my_ man,” Lotor interrupted sharply. “ _Mine_ to punish, or not, as I see fit. And as I see it, he’s just stopped you from dishonoring yourself in front of your prince. Only a coward would raise a hand to someone weaker than them.”

Porvok was speechless.

“I’m very troubled by what I’ve seen here,” Lotor said. “And I intend to investigate further. You will give me rooms in the palace. You will welcome me properly with a feast. You will give me access to all your operations. And- this woman.” He looked over at the local woman, who was shaking. “She pleases me. She will be mine. I’ll be keeping her during my stay.”

“Fine,” Porvok hissed and turned on his heel, storming away.

Lotor turned to the woman. “Show me to a set of rooms,” he said imperiously. “I’ll need a suite. I prefer for my guards to lodge with me.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. If anything she only looked more terrified. She turned and led the way into the palace. They left the soldiers behind. The servants were locals, and they bowed as Lotor swept past with his entourage.

Sendak watched the woman and waited for Lotor to reassure her. They seemed to walk for a very long time in silence.

She took them to lavish quarters. The four of them walked in and Bogh closed and locked the door behind them. When the woman turned around Sendak saw that she was weeping silently. She lifted shaking hands to the clasps of her clothing, looking at the floor rather than any of the strange men she found herself with. Occupiers, soldiers, brutes.

There was a poignant bravery in the way she accepted her position, her fate, what she expected them to do to her now that they were alone.

“No, my dear,” Lotor said, very gently. He drew her hands away and knelt before her. “No, that’s not why you’re here. That’s not why I’m here. My people have done yours a great deal of harm. I’m here to do what I can to ease your pain.”

She sniffled as she looked down at him, confused and still terrified.

“I’m here to help you,” Lotor said. “My name is Lotor. What’s yours?”

She looked up at Sendak and Bogh, still unsure. Lotor waited patiently. She drew herself up and Sendak could see that she was not a servant, as he’d first assumed. She had some power here. Maybe she’d been a queen, a princess, a priestess.

She licked her lips. When she spoke, her voice was steady.

“Ven’tar,” she said. “My name is Ven’tar.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

* * *

Lotor bid Ven’tar to sit at the table. He sat beside her. He was still holding her hands and she didn’t pull away. Kova jumped down from Lotor’s shoulder to explore the unfamiliar surroundings.

“Come on,” Bogh said and Sendak followed his lead. It would be better if she didn’t feel so outnumbered. It would be better for her to be alone with Lotor for now.

There was a large bedroom off one side of the main room. It was luxurious, though decorated with restraint. One wall was open to the air, leading to a balcony blocked off by heavy curtains, currently tied back with satin ropes. There was a large bathroom featuring a tub that could comfortably fit at least five people.

Bogh set about systematically searching the place.

“What are we looking for?” Sendak asked.

“Bugs,” Bogh said.

“Really?” Sendak asked incredulously.

Bogh opened the base of a lighting fixture set into the wall and pulled out a small device, distinctly Galra in design. He raised his eyebrow.

“It’s not unusual to bug recently conquered lands.”

“Oh,” Sendak said. He hadn’t known. Lotor was particularly prickly about being bugged, listened to. He had to be. His plans were so delicate, they could collapse so easily. It made sense that he was careful.

Sendak made sure to be very careful too, after that.

It took a long time to search the bedroom. When they went back to the main room the woman, Ven’tar, was calm and smiling. Lotor was still holding her hands.

There were two more bedrooms on the other side and Sendak helped Bogh search those too.

Then they were back in the main room again, and Ven’tar was hiding a laugh behind her hand as Lotor showed her a magic trick with the deck of cards he used to play Kotat.

She didn’t even bat an eye as Sendak and Bogh went about upending the room. Only a few hours had passed, but Lotor already had her decidedly charmed. He was good with children, and apparently he was good with frightened women too.

There was a quiet knock on the door, a servant telling them that the feast was prepared before leaving with a polite bow.

Ven’tar made as if to stand and Lotor set his hand gently on her shoulder.

“No, your highness,” he said. So Sendak had been right- she was a princess after all. “You’ve been through quite enough.”

“My presence will be missed,” she said sadly.

“No, my dear,” Lotor said, bringing one of her hands up to his lips and kissing it with all the quiet grace of an aristocrat. “You must realize what they’re saying out there. What they think happened between us. If anyone asks, I’ll tell them I used you quite cruelly and they’ll excuse your absence. Don’t you deserve to rest?”

She closed her eyes and sighed, slowly and with great feeling. “Rest would be… a kindness.”

“I will treat you with nothing but kindness,” Lotor said, very seriously. “I know you have no reason to believe me, not truly. But that is a promise I make and intend to keep. Rest. Here, in these rooms if you like. Return to your own, if that pleases you. Now that I’m here, everything will be different.”

“Thank you, Prince Lotor,” she said with a small pained smile. “Thank you.”

“I can’t take back the mistakes of my people. But I will do my best to atone for them. Rest.”

She nodded and looked back at the table, running her finger over the edge of the deck of cards Lotor had left behind.

Sendak and Bogh followed Lotor out of the room.

“You two are my loyal dogs,” Lotor said quietly. “It is not your place to partake in the revelry. Do you understand?”

Don’t eat or drink anything, he meant. Poison, he meant.

“I understand,” Sendak said while Bogh nodded silently.

Lotor asked a passing servant and got directions to the banquet hall. When the three of them walked in, the Galra in attendance grew very quiet. Lotor marched up to the head table like he owned it and sat to the right of Commander Porvok without being invited.

Porvok seemed less than pleased.

“How is this wild land treating you?” Lotor asked casually. “There must have been riots.”

“No,” Porvok said. “I’m in control.”

“But you haven’t washed the blood from the streets,” Lotor said, full of wide-eyed innocence. “I’d assumed you were distracted by other matters.”

Porvok gritted his teeth.

The first course was served. Lotor was particularly acerbic. “This looks like it’s not even dead yet,” he said, poking at a strange arrangement of glistening meat presented in a pearlescent shell. “Do these barbarians really eat this?”

Porvok had been in the middle of swallowing his own. He frowned. Lotor pushed his plate away with disdain. 

A servant poured him wine. Lotor spilled it.

Another servant brought Lotor a plate of food. Bogh discreetly tripped him and the plate fell to the floor.

“Not exactly the well-oiled machine I’d expect from a Galra occupation,” Lotor said, pitching his voice conspiratorially while still speaking loud enough to make sure everyone at the table heard.

Porvok’s grip on his fork tightened.

“They’ll bring you another,” he said.

“But you have so much here already,” Lotor said innocently, reaching over to steal food from Porvok’s plate. “It’s a wonder you’re not horribly fat, if these are the portions they routinely serve. Maybe that’s how they intend to defeat us. They’ll slowly turn us all into balls of jiggling flesh and roll us into the nearest ravine.”

Porvok was angry but he didn’t dare show it. He hadn’t forgotten Lotor’s earlier threat. He was quite aware of Sendak and Bogh standing close behind him.

“Do they have ravines here?” Lotor asked, reaching over to drink from Porvok’s wine glass. “I hadn’t noticed. It seems like a swamp, for the most part. Do you swim?”

Porvok tried to ignore him. Sendak knew from personal experience that it was impossible.

“I do enjoy swimming,” Lotor said. “But not alone, of course. All the glistening flesh on display, the water sluicing down firm muscle. Have you had the pleasure?”

Porvok didn’t know what to say to that.

“These locals, they’re quite well built. Lithe, would be the word. So tall, so… particularly muscular. In all the right places. Doesn’t it make you want to take one by the waist and tumble them into the sand? Or, well, grass maybe. They seem to have grass here. Or moss, perhaps. Lily pads. It is a swamp.”

Porvok seemed dangerously close to stabbing Lotor with his fork.

“You’ve done a fine job here, I’m sure,” Lotor said easily, stealing another cut of meat from Porvok’s plate. “I’m sure the Emperor, my lord father, would be very proud. But he does seem to be difficult to please at times. Unpredictable. It must be so stressful, to be stationed on a wild planet like this.”

“I’m handling it,” Porvok said. It was practically a growl.

A servant returned with a glass of wine for Lotor.

Lotor spilled it and made it look like an accident.

“How clumsy,” he said with a faint downturning of his lips. “How clumsy to set the glass so close to my elbow. These people are very crude. You really must manage them better. This display does you no service.”

Sendak watched with interest as Porvok gripped his fork tightly enough to bend it.

Lotor continued, filling the night with needling comments.

There was a dance of servant girls in silks. Lotor found fault with it.

There was a show of Galra soldiers singing war songs. Lotor found their voices to be quite rough.

Porvok was burning up with fury and had no outlet for it.

It was oddly amusing to be spectator to Lotor’s antics, rather than victim of them.

The night devolved into singing and dancing. Sendak noted that Lotor had managed not to eat or drink anything that hadn’t been served on Porvok’s plates.

Eventually the group seated at the head table disbanded. Bogh went down into the hall to mingle with Porvok’s soldiers and Sendak followed Lotor out to the cool balcony.

“Are you trying to get Porvok to stab you in front of witnesses?” he asked mildly.

“Perhaps,” Lotor answered with a faint smile.

The moment of stillness was oddly nice. 

“It’s strange to see it from the inside,” Sendak said. “It seems so obvious, once you’re in on the game.”

“Does it? Lotor asked, his eyes wide and open and he peered back at Sendak. “Maybe I’ve played my hand with you too soon.”

“No,” Sendak said. “Not soon enough.”

* * *

Lotor was increasingly infuriating as the feast wore on. Eventually Porvok found he could stomach it no longer and took his leave.

Lotor lingered, talking to the soldiers, the officers, the local servants and aristocrats.

He ate nothing but what he could steal from the plates of others. Sendak and Bogh ate nothing at all.

By the time Lotor was pretending to stumble drunkenly back to their quarters Sendak’s stomach was rumbling with hunger.

They walked into the rooms to find a series of crates waiting for them, brought in from Lotor’s ship, and Bogh cursed happily as he opened one.

He pulled out a small wooden box and opened it to reveal an assortment of smoked meats and fine cheeses, soft crusty bread. Sendak didn’t wait for an invitation to join him, letting himself sate his hunger at last. Neither of them bothered to sit.

“Brutes,” Lotor said fondly and went out onto the balcony of the central room.

Sendak and Bogh ate, and once they were finished they eyed the two bedrooms that were available. They weren’t equal, they both knew as much now that they’d spent the time searching them. One bedroom had a balcony and a large bathroom. The other was little more than a storage closet that happened to have a bed.

“Which one do you want?” Sendak asked.

“The good one, obviously,” Bogh said. “Same as you.”

“How do we decide?” Sendak asked. He knew the answer even as he asked the question. It was clear enough. They both served Lotor, and Lotor had found a way to bury himself into their very souls. So they’d decide with a game.

“Blaster dagger poison,” Bogh said with a grin.

It was a simple game, mostly of chance. Each option had a hand sign, each option beat another and was beaten in turn.

“Fine,” Sendak said. He had a hunch. He wanted to see if it was true.

“Blaster, dagger, poison,” they chanted in unison.

Sendak threw ‘poison’, curling his thumb and index finger into an ‘O’.

Bogh threw ‘blaster,’ holding two fingers out as a pretend barrel.

Sendak smirked. Bogh frowned.

Sendak let his eyes rest on Bogh’s blaster, holstered at his hip. “You caress that thing so much, your lady friend has cause to be jealous.”

“Fuck you,” Bogh said.

“Fuck you too,” Sendak answered. 

The question of the rooms was settled. 

Sendak took off his armor and the jumpsuit he wore underneath until he was only in his underwear. He was ready to go to bed when there was a quiet knock on his door.

Slowly, he opened it.

“Good evening,” Lotor said, still fully dressed. For a moment Sendak wondered if he was about to be dragged into another adventure. A chase, a lie, a scheme. Stealing through dark empty streets, climbing walls, jumping from roof to roof. But Lotor only blushed and lowered his eyes.

“There appears to be a princess in my bed.”

“You work fast,” Sendak teased. He stepped to the side, waving his hand in clear invitation.

Lotor walked inside.

Sendak had turned off the lights already, and now that Lotor was here and stripping carefully on the other side of the room, he wished he hadn’t.

He forced himself to look away and settled in bed, arranging the thin blankets around himself.

“You don’t feel like cuddling up to Bogh?” Sendak asked.

“He snores.”

“How would you know? I thought he preferred women.”

“You must know by now, we were in the same training class. There were overnight trips. Dormitories.”

Lotor climbed into bed and settled under the blankets.

Sendak had known. But it was nice that Lotor had told him on his own, too.

The room had a balcony, a wall open to the outside, just like the master bedroom. Sendak had closed the heavy curtains but it must have been windy out- they billowed. A breeze brushed through the room, chilly and damp. Maybe it was about to rain.

The blankets weren’t very thick. Lotor shivered beside him.

It was dark and quiet, intimate. Lotor had come to share his bed, because there was a princess of an occupied nation sleeping in his. If that was even true. Sendak hoped it wasn’t.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Sendak turned to his side and let himself look at Lotor beside him. He was turned away, his hair spilling over the pillows. Sendak wanted to trace the lines of his back, run his hands over the muscle there. Lotor had twelve thin scars marking his skin, though they were faint by now. The cold boy that never smiled was far away, and Sendak found himself in bed with the dashing rogue.

It started to rain. It was a soothing sound, peaceful. Lotor was still shivering.

Sendak reached out and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him back so he was tucked against the warmth of Sendak’s chest.

Lotor tensed.

“Hairless runt,” Sendak said, fondly.

“Brute.”

“Why are you antagonizing Porvok?”

“I don’t want to talk about Porvok.”

Sendak turned his face so it was buried in the cool silk of Lotor’s hair. He smelled of flowers.

“Tell me a poem,” Lotor said lightly.

“Darling,” Sendak said in a near whisper. His words were almost drowned out by the rain. “Every moment with you is a treasure, a gift, a smooth stone pulled from the river of joy. Your voice fills me like honey, sweet and warm from the sun. Your eyes draw me in, full of secrets and promise.

“I ache for you. I ache to be the one to light the fire in your heart and chase away your shadows. You are a cracked mirror, a different reflection in each facet. You are jagged and sharp and sweet and supple. I’ll reach for you, no matter how badly you cut my fingers. Always, I’ll reach for you once more.”

“Awful,” Lotor said. Sendak had his hand on Lotor’s chest. His heart was beating very fast.

“You asked.”

Lotor huffed out a soft laugh and turned his face into the pillow. He wasn’t shivering anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

In the morning Lotor was gone. Sendak dressed in the Imperial armor and left the room to see him speaking with Ven’tar over breakfast.

She looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Lieutenant Sendak. I thank you for intervening on my behalf with the Commander.”

Sendak looked at Lotor uncertainly. Lotor had told him not to speak, and he wasn’t sure if that included now. Lotor’s lips quirked up and he nodded minutely.

“I was simply doing my duty, your highness,” Sendak said.

“My guards are men of honor,” Lotor said. “You’ll have nothing to fear while they’re around.”

“I never thought…” Ven’tar blushed and looked down, fiddling with her hands in her lap. “I never thought I’d feel safe with… with… Galra around. I never thought I’d feel safe in my home again. You have given me a gift, Prince Lotor.”

“Think nothing of it. There will be many more, before I’m through.”

She laughed. It was a very pretty sound.

“Breakfast?” Lotor asked, and Sendak sat at the table. Eventually Bogh joined them as well. Lotor talked to Ven’tar very sweetly. Sendak turned his focus to his breakfast. Lotor didn’t sleep with women, but still- it was hard not to be jealous.

After breakfast Lotor inquired about Ven’tar’s planet. Ven’tar offered to give them a tour. That was what Lotor had been after, but he hadn’t asked. He’d waited for Ven’tar to offer.

She seemed afraid to step out of the palace, but once outside she seemed to brighten. It appeared as though Lotor had successfully shamed Porvok into ordering the streets cleared. The bloodstains were gone.

As a result the locals were in better spirits today than they had been before. Lotor had barely stepped foot on their planet and already he’d had a profound effect. He offered Ven’tar his arm and she took it, smiling easily. At the sight of this, the locals seemed hesitantly hopeful. They bowed as Lotor passed.

Lotor was very gallant and princely throughout the day. They went to the market and he purchased some local food from some very confused vendors. They were still getting used to using GAC instead of whatever their local currency had been. Here and there Sendak could see the furtive exchange of unfamiliar coins. The Galra would have confiscated most of them, forbidden their use. But old habits died hard.

Lotor praised the food, the scenery, the weather. He stopped a group of Galra soldiers from harassing a pretty merchant and gave them the dressing-down of the century while the stunned populace watched.

The soldiers slunk away with their tails between their legs. A brave child wandered over to gawk at the foreign prince. Lotor knelt so they were eye to eye and showed him a magic trick. The child squealed in delight and called over his friends. They swarmed in an instant and demanded another.

Lotor showed them another. Ven’tar seemed charmed. Everyone seemed charmed. Lotor was being very aggressive in his charm offensive.

When he stood the children begged him to stay, tugging on his half skirt. He gave each of them a coin and they ran off to buy sweets, finally letting Lotor continue on his way.

Lotor carefully asked Ven’tar pointed questions, dancing around something Sendak couldn’t see the shape of yet. Lotor and Ven’tar discussed the merits of various tax policies, what the duties on imports had been, how many ships the shipyard could hold, the terrain around the city.

Sendak looked over at Bogh, curious if he knew what Lotor was really after. Bogh gave a little shrug. He had no idea either.

They had dinner with Commander Porvok while Ven’tar went back to her rooms and had dinner with her ladies. As soon as Ven’tar was gone Lotor’s manner shifted, dashing prince turned poisonous brat in an instant. Another magic trick. Porvok did a poor job of hiding his annoyance.

The next day they toured the palace and Lotor set about charming the servants, the chamberlain, the cooks and the seamstresses. The next day they toured the countryside and inspected the site where Galra engineers were building the facility that would allow them to harvest quintessence from the planet. The next day Lotor inspected the shipyard, the next day-

This continued until Sendak’s head was spinning. It was impossible to know what was important and what was just a diversion, impossible to see what Lotor was planning. He had a feeling Lotor was getting the lay of the land and setting the board, finding the pieces he’d need and taking the first steps of setting them into motion.

By the end of the second week the locals smiled when they saw him walk past. Ven’tar seemed at ease.

At dinner that night Porvok was especially annoyed. Lotor had inspected his men earlier in the day. It had been a very drawn out affair and Lotor had managed to find a lot of things to complain about.

“Where’s the woman?” Porvok asked while they were eating.

“I can’t seem to keep my hands off her,” Lotor said without missing a beat. “She’s got to sleep sometime.”

“She screamed like a stuck pig when I put my hands on her,” Porvok said with a scowl.

“Is that so,” Lotor said, very carefully. Sendak tensed. “And what did you do then?” He picked up his steak knife. He wasn’t holding it like he was about to cut steak.

“I took my hands off her,” Porvok said, rolling his eyes. “The bitch screams in the most annoying way. So high pitched. I nearly lost my dinner, not to mention my erection.”

Lotor laughed. His hold on the knife loosened and he used it to clean his fingernails as though that had been his intent from the start. “She’s a spicy little slut,” he said. “The quiet ones always seem to scream the loudest when I’m buried balls deep inside them. You’re missing out. Maybe you’re simply not to her taste. Maybe she prefers more experienced lovers.”

Porvok took a long drink of wine.

“It’s been fun,” Lotor said. “But it does get a little stale, after a while. I could do with some variety.”

“Feel free to make use of the servants.”

“I’d prefer a soldier, or maybe a professional.”

This was it. Something. Sendak listened very closely.

“Can you recommend a place?” Lotor asked, casually sipping on his wine. He’d been more free about eating at these dinners lately. Sendak assumed it was because he’d had a chance to charm the cooks that prepared the food, and the servants who served it.

“There’s a brothel on the outskirts. The girls are pretty enough. I can have my men escort you.”

“I’d prefer to go alone,” Lotor said easily.

“Alone?” Porvok asked.

“I don’t enjoy an audience while I fuck,” Lotor said, suddenly very bored. “Do you? Does it help you to have some emotional support? A few men standing on the sidelines, to clap and cheer you on? You’ve mentioned the loss of an erection, is it very difficult for you to maintain one? I can give you some tips on that front. There are drugs, I would think. I wouldn’t know from personal experience, but I’d assume there are drugs.”

Porvok bent his fork in his fist and didn’t seem to notice. According to Sendak’s mental tally, that was the seventh one since they’d arrived. 

“You’ve been having a very fine time here, it seems,” Porvok said tightly. “But I’ve never once seen you train. Maybe you’d like to spar.” He said it with the tone of a man quite looking forward to a sparring accident.

Lotor scoffed. “With you? You’re beneath me. You’re just a Commander, and I’m a prince. I’m sure my guards would spar with you, if you’re in want of exercise. You must be, after all this rich food. Your armor seems to be practically overflowing. Maybe you should requisition a new set. How much does the Emperor pay you, to be in charge here? It can’t be very much, else you’d serve better wine.”

Porvok stood abruptly, tossing his bent fork down to his plate, still full of food.

“What’s the matter?” Lotor asked. “Has something put you off your appetite? It must have been those disgusting damp things from earlier, the ones served up in shells rather than plates. You were so keen on pouring them down your gullet.”

Without another word, Porvok turned and stormed away. Lotor reached out and took a sip of his wine. Sendak found hiding his smirk to be a particular struggle.

“How rude,” Lotor muttered, peering about the room. “You there,” he called out, pointing into the hall at Porvok’s Lieutenant. The man looked up nervously. “Won’t you join me?” Lotor asked, gesturing to Porvok’s hastily vacated seat.

There was some laughing at the Lieutenant’s table, his companions patting him on the back and pushing him to stand. He stood and walked over, hesitating as he looked at the chair where his Commander had just been sitting. Porvok’s food was still warm.

Lotor patted the seat and the Lieutenant sat to the sound of more laughter rippling through the room. It was a huge breach of etiquette for a Lieutenant to sit in the place meant for a Commander. But Lotor had practically ordered him, and if anyone were to be punished for it, it wouldn’t be the Lieutenant.

“How nice to have some pleasant company for once,” Lotor said with a sharp smile, and set about seducing the Lieutenant with relish. Sendak found himself not having quite as much fun as before.

He should have known that Lotor wouldn’t have given up this particular game. Sendak had thought that maybe Lotor had- that they’d had-

A moment. More than one. He’d thought that maybe Lotor… felt for him. But Lotor wasn’t like him. Sendak was a hopeless romantic. Lotor was a pragmatist. There was no way he could explain this to himself that lessened the painful pull in his chest.

He did his duty. He stood silently at attention while he watched Lotor flirting with another man right before his eyes and tried to believe that Lotor wasn’t being cruel. He was being terribly cruel. Sendak tried to believe it wasn’t on purpose.

He tried to think of games, pieces moving over a board, pulled strings. He tried to think of anything but the way Lotor looked at the Lieutenant beside him, and joked with him, and ran his fingers over the sharp line of the man’s jaw.

Lotor invited him back to his rooms.

Sendak and Bogh followed silently as Lotor joked with the Lieutenant while they walked through the halls.

Lotor took him into his bedroom and it wasn’t very long before they heard the sounds of fucking drifting through the air. The rooms weren’t exactly separated. There were walls, open to air. Balconies. It had never been this loud before.

Sendak sat at the table and let his face fall into his hands.

“You can take my room tonight,” Bogh said with gentle understanding. “The door is very thick, and-”

“No,” Sendak said quietly. “That won’t change anything. Thank you, but no.”

It seemed to last a very long time, and then it stopped abruptly. Sendak looked up. The air seemed different, charged. Fucking had turned into argument, and then the Lieutenant was storming out, disheveled and flushing furiously as he clutched his armor close to his chest.

“That’s new,” Bogh said mildly.

Sendak didn’t know what to say. Slowly, he stood. Slower, he walked up to Lotor’s door and stepped inside. The bedsheets were mussed. He didn’t let his gaze linger, because Lotor wasn’t in bed. He walked out onto the balcony.

Lotor was standing there, leaning on the balustrade. His hair was a mess and his pants only partially buttoned. His shirt was open and fluttering at the mercy of the breeze.

“Do I need to go catch him and break his arms?” Sendak asked carefully as he walked closer.

“No,” Lotor said. “He annoyed me. I sent him away. That’s the end of it.”

Sendak looked at him, really _looked_ at him. He seemed tense. Making love made Sendak feel uninhibited, unwound. It made him feel free. Lotor was the opposite- he seemed even more brittle than before.

“Do you even enjoy this?” Sendak asked. “These… liaisons? Or is all of it just another game for you? Moving pieces, placing bets.”

“Do I enjoy fucking?” Lotor asked crudely. “Who doesn’t. Aside from you, of course.”

“You’re still hard,” Sendak said.

“I’m a difficult man to please.”

“Is that so,” Sendak said, taking another step closer. “I think,” he started, very softly, “that for all your experience, I might have you beat.”

“At what?” Lotor scoffed.

“At pleasure. Satisfaction. At experiences that leave you feeling… full.”

Lotor made an unimpressed sound. “Do go on,” he said, “about your experiences. You seem to be in a sharing mood. Share with me. How exactly do you go about making love?”

“It’s different every time,” Sendak said seriously. “The mood, the lover, the moment- it all changes. It’s always different.”

“Tease,” Lotor said with a quiet laugh. “If you didn’t want to tell me you could have just said so.”

“I meant- I’ll need you to be more specific, about the scenario.”

“How would you make love to me, then,” Lotor said. His voice trembled faintly but he sounded quite brave despite it. Maybe because of it.

“When?”

“Now.”

“I wouldn’t, now.”

Lotor’s shoulders tightened, and so did his grip on the balustrade. “Of course,” he said bitterly. “Of course you wouldn’t. Not you- with your _honor_ and your talk of _love._ What must you think of me? Of my string of- of- _liaisons._ You must think I’m disgusting. A filthy fucking _slut._ Maybe you’re worried you’ll catch something. You know, I am careful. I-”

“Stop,” Sendak interrupted, his heart aching. “Don’t presume to know what I’m thinking, not if you’re going to be so wrong about it. I meant- I wouldn’t make love to you now. Not with another man’s sweat on your skin. Another man’s taste on your lips. I’d be far too jealous. It would burn me up inside and I’d be too rough. I don’t think you’d like it, if I were rough with you. I wouldn’t like it either.”

“Oh,” Lotor breathed out. His shoulders loosened. He shifted, relaxed. When he spoke the words came out easy, trembling and eager. “Master doesn’t like to share.”

He enjoyed playing games. He had a habit of hiding behind them. But now Sendak knew him, and he’d decide if Lotor had a place to hide.

“No,” Sendak agreed.

“Let’s say I took a bath first,” Lotor pushed. “How would you make love to me then?”

Sendak stepped closer, stopping so close behind Lotor that they were nearly touching. If he weren’t wearing armor he could have felt the heat radiating off Lotor’s skin.

Lotor had both hands on the balustrade and was quite determined not to look at him as he stared out into the night. Sendak set his hands on the balustrade too, caging Lotor in. He leaned forward so his mouth was very close to Lotor’s ear.

“I’d start by taking you in my arms, and kissing you.”

“How very boring,” Lotor said dryly.

“I don’t think you’d be bored,” Sendak countered. “I think you’d gasp and stifle a moan, like Aramina did, when you watched me kiss her.”

Lotor tensed. He was thinking about it, and imagining himself in her place.

“I’d kiss you until you were wordless, hard and aching against me. And then I’d take you to bed. I’d strip you of your clothing first, so I could feast on the sight of you laid bare for me while I removed my own.

“You’d be shy while I made a place for myself between your trembling thighs. I’d put you on your belly and pull your hips up to prepare you-”

“No,” Lotor said. “No. I don’t do that. Not with anyone. I don’t- I haven’t-”

Sendak paused as another puzzle piece fell into place. “But you want to,” he whispered into Lotor’s ear, and knew that Lotor could feel the warmth of his breath brushing over his delicate skin. “You think about it. You think about the delicious slide of someone entering you, taking you. You want someone to cut the strings of your control and master you. You want to let go. You would, with me. You'd let me take you.”

“I-”

“Do you touch yourself, inside? When you’re alone?”

Lotor’s fingers tensed over the stone railing. “I-”

“Tell me.”

“Yes,” Lotor said faintly. “I- yes. Sometimes. Yes.”

“Good,” Sendak purred. “Because my fingers are very thick, and my cock more so. You wouldn’t be able to take me inside, if you’d never done it before. I’d be very careful with you. I’d open you up slowly, so slowly that you’d be mewling for me. I think you’d be quiet, for me. You’d be too overwhelmed to make a show of it.

“I’d put you on your back, so I could watch you falling apart, and so you couldn’t rut against the bed. So you couldn’t find any release that I didn’t give you. You’d cry out and try to touch yourself but I’d pull your hands away. I’d make you wait, and beg for it.”

He paused, paying close attention to Lotor in front of him, caged in by him. He was trying so hard to stay very still, but Sendak could hear the way his breath was coming quick, could _see_ his pulse racing in his neck.

He waited.

Lotor was very hard in his trousers. He swallowed, loudly. He opened his mouth with a small wet sound and licked his lips. “Is that it then?” he breathed out. “You’re finished making love to me?”

“No,” Sendak said carefully. “No. I’m not nearly finished. I’m waiting, because this is the part where you beg.”

Lotor tensed and let out a soft shuddering breath. Sendak leaned closer, close enough that any careless movement might cause skin to brush against skin. 

_“Beg,”_ he whispered into Lotor’s ear.

Lotor froze. And then, like a slow unspooling, the tension lifted. “Please,” he whispered back, trembling and full of desire. He was trying so hard to pretend it was all a game but the truth shone through. “Please touch me. Fuck me. Please- don’t stop. I want you. I need you so badly. Please don’t ever stop, not even for a moment.”

“I won’t,” Sendak promised, breathy and fierce. “I won’t stop, not until I’m sure you’re satisfied.

“I’d push inside you and rock into you slowly. I’d be so careful not to hurt you. I’d hold your legs open and press you down into the sheets and kiss you. I’d suck bruises into the delicate skin of your neck, above where your armor would cover. I’d want everyone to know that you were claimed, that you were mine.”

Lotor made a quiet desperate sound, so quiet it was nearly carried away by the breeze. Sendak wished he could lean closer, but he couldn’t. Not without touching him. If he touched Lotor now, he’d pull away. But he’d stay, as long as he could tell himself they were still just playing.

“I’d hold you close and revel in every little sound you made,” Sendak murmured. “You’d be helpless against me, overwhelmed and trembling. I would love it. I would love you. I’d keep going until I couldn’t any longer, and then I’d bid you to come for me, and you would. I wouldn’t even have to touch you. You’d come for me on command, sweetly, and I’d kiss you through it.”

“Presumptuous,” Lotor said. His voice was shaking, breathy in a way that wasn’t fake. “To think that I would, that I’d-”

 _“Come for me,”_ Sendak growled, letting his lips brush against Lotor’s ear as he spoke. He said it with quiet command, with care and devotion. He said it with all the force of love behind it and Lotor shuddered, and gasped in surprise, and tightened in a most distinctive way. Sendak let himself turn his head and nuzzle into Lotor’s hair, suddenly overcome by the smell of flowers.

He gave Lotor a moment to recover, and then he pulled away.

“It seems you’re not that difficult to please after all,” Sendak said quietly.

“You’re wasted as a soldier,” Lotor said, just as quietly. He already had his breathing under control and that was a great shame. “You should have-”

“Stop,” Sendak said sharply. He’d been true and honest. He didn’t want Lotor cheapening what had happened by making a joke. He really couldn’t bear a joke just now. “Stop,” he said, less sharply. “Just… stop.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

Bogh started making himself scarce more often. Sendak wondered what Lotor had him doing but didn’t ask. Bogh seemed to be spending a lot of time with Porvok’s soldiers and Sendak wondered if Lotor was planning a coup.

Surely there were easier ways to go about it.

Still, Sendak wondered. The locals loved Lotor by now. Porvok hated him with a passion that had Sendak so worried he could hardly sleep.

He was staring up at the ceiling on one such night when there was a knock on the door. For a moment he hoped that it was Lotor, coming to share his bed again. He hoped that it was Lotor, coming to make the unspoken thing between them real.

It was Lotor, but he was dressed the way he’d tended to dress on Vair-Vasal. Narrow trousers, loose white shirt, a coat, a cloak. He was wearing gloves tonight and he had the hood of the cloak pulled low over his face.

“We’re going out.”

“I see,” Sendak said and turned to get dressed as well.

“No,” Lotor said when Sendak reached for his Imperial armor.

Sendak’s breath caught in his throat. He looked up.

“No,” Lotor said, and smirked as he glanced pointedly towards the crate containing the armor that he’d provided, so long ago now. The armor that Sendak had been aching to wear again.

Lotor crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, watching openly as Sendak dressed in the black armor with orange accents. It felt like a strange relief to be wearing it again. It felt like a breath of air, an embrace. 

“You designed it yourself, didn’t you,” Sendak said once he’d finished.

“Yes,” Lotor said. “I built it myself, too.”

“Did you,” Sendak said absently, running his fingers over the breast plate. The armor had been precious before and it was only more precious now. Lotor had made it for him. He must have made it before they’d ever even spoken.

“Come along,” Lotor said. “Your layabout prince has quite the night of drinking and gambling planned ahead of him.”

“Yes, sire.”

Lotor seemed pleased at the address, the easy respect. He would be. No one respected him, not really. There was Bogh, of course. But their relationship seemed more like brotherly tousling than anything else. When had anyone called Lotor _sire,_ and meant it? Maybe never.

Lotor tossed him a dark cloak, Sendak pulled it on. He wasn’t sure what the point was. With his size, it would be immediately obvious to everyone that he was Galra. Lotor was wearing gloves to cover up his purple skin but he hadn’t pulled back his distinctively white hair. Their identities weren’t particularly well hidden.

They climbed down the wall outside the balcony and went out into the city. Lotor took them to a seedier area than where they’d gone with Ven’tar.

There was a bar, a brothel, a game of cards. A local game, that Lotor was delighted to learn and quickly excelled in. The rough looking men they played with seemed annoyed, but after winning all their hard-earned money Lotor bought a round of drinks and suddenly he was popular once more.

Lotor pretended to be drunk on the the walk back even though Sendak was the only one around. He was careful of his surroundings and it didn’t take long for him to notice that they were being followed. Galra soldiers.

Sendak tensed but they stayed back. Lotor was very good at acting drunk and useless, and then they were back in the suite and Lotor patted him on the cheek with an easy joke before taking his leave.

A few more days passed, more or less peaceful, until Sendak woke to a message on his communicator. A set of coordinates, a familiar word.

_Now._

He moved much faster now than he had the last time. He burst into Bogh’s room only to see it was empty. And then he jumped from the balcony and _ran._

He could hardly breathe, much less think. He ended up back at the brothel, the alleyway beside it. There was the unmistakable sound of a fight. There were grunts, whimpers of pain, cruel laughter.

Sendak’s mind whited out. He ran towards the fight. Before he knew it he was grabbing someone by the throat and slamming them against a wall.

The timbre of the fight changed. There were three men standing and one on the ground. The ones standing didn’t seem to be in the mood to keep fighting now that Sendak was here. They ran, and even though Sendak wanted to rip them all limb from limb, he only had eyes for the distinctive figure lying on the ground, wearing dark armor with blue and orange accents. 

“Darling,” Sendak breathed out helplessly as he fell to his knees.

“Are you about to tell me a poem?” Lotor managed. He groaned as he turned, straightening his arms and legs out of the fetal position he’d been in. “That might be more of an assault on my senses than this little incident.”

“I’ll kill them. I’ll- I’ll kill _you,”_ Sendak hissed, running his hands over Lotor’s body to see where he was injured. “You- you utter _bastard._ You could have fought them off. Why did you- why did you let them-”

Lotor sat up with a wince. “I try to schedule myself for regular beatings,” he said. “It keeps me honest.”

Sendak reached out and pushed Lotor’s hair out of his face. His lip was cut and bleeding, his nose was bleeding too. “How can you joke right now?”

“It makes it hurt less.”

 _“Fuck,”_ Sendak said, vehemently. He tried to clean the blood off Lotor’s face with the edge of his cloak but he only seemed to make it worse, leaving thick smears on his cheek. “Can you walk?”

Sendak wasn’t sure if he was more scared or angry anymore. Lotor seemed to think very hard about Sendak’s question.

“I’ll carry you,” Sendak said, and was suddenly unsure of how to touch him without hurting him. He couldn’t exactly put him over his shoulder. And the palace was so far away, too far away to carry him in his arms the whole time. His mind was blank with worry and suddenly Lotor laughed only to wince and grab at his middle.

“Carry me on your back, then,” he said with a small smile.

“You’re awful,” Sendak said, moving so it was easy for Lotor to wrap his arms around his shoulders from behind, to arrange his legs. Sendak moved to take him by the backs of the thighs and stood carefully, bearing Lotor’s weight.

Lotor tightened his arms and pressed his face against Sendak’s neck, his breath unsteady.

“Tell me what you’re doing,” Sendak said. “Just tell me. I’ll help you. You must know that I’ll help you.”

“Oh, you know me,” Lotor muttered. “I’m not very chatty.”

Sendak tightened his jaw.

“You didn’t join us at breakfast this morning,” Lotor said lightly.

“There wasn’t room for me at the table with Bogh and all his damned blaster parts.” The truth was he’d skipped it in favor of carving Tripa pieces. He was nearly finished now and he had a strange feeling like maybe he was running out of time. “It’s like he lives for disassembling and cleaning it. Why? He’s always got that damned thing on him, and I’ve never seen him use it.”

“Yes, he does always have it on him,” Lotor said thoughtfully. “If you’d been at breakfast you would have seen the present he found. Hidden in the grip.” Lotor moved his hand in front of Sendak’s face and opened it with a flourish. He was holding a bug like the ones Bogh and Sendak had found in the rooms when they’d first come.

The bug was deactivated of course, and Lotor dropped it carelessly to the ground. Sendak made sure to crush it under his heel. They didn’t talk much after that.

Still, it felt good to understand, even if the picture was more grim than he’d imagined. It wasn’t that Lotor didn’t trust him. He simply didn’t trust anyone else. There were eyes and ears everywhere and Lotor’s plans were delicate.

* * *

Lotor’s armor had taken the brunt of the beating so he wasn’t too badly hurt. He still stayed holed up in his room the following day, even though he sent Sendak and Bogh out to have dinner in the main hall with everyone else.

Porvok seemed particularly smug. Sendak had pieced it together already, so he’d been expecting it. Lotor had said he went to brothels alone, and Porvok, seeing it as his chance, had sent men after him. Sendak didn’t know if it was an assassination attempt or simply an attempt to get back at Lotor, put him in his place. He didn’t care either way. Porvok was a dead man walking now, just for trying.

Sendak made it through dinner by imagining wrapping his hands around the Commander’s throat and bearing down. When he and Bogh returned to their rooms, the common room was dark and quiet.

“You think he’s still here?” Bogh asked quietly while Sendak turned on the lights.

“Check,” Sendak said, jerking his chin towards Lotor’s bedroom.

“You check,” Bogh said.

“Blaster dagger poison?”

“Fuck you, you’re just as much of a cheat as he is,” Bogh grumbled. “I’ll check.”

He opened the door without knocking and Sendak heard a sharp intake of breath, then laughter.

“What the fuck, Bogh!” Lotor cried out indignantly.

More laughter. “You didn’t even lock the damned door-”

“There’s no lock, you ass- get the fuck out!”

Bogh left the room, his shoulders still shaking, and a pillow flew out after him before he pulled the door shut.

“What’s going on?” Sendak asked.

“Nothing. He’s… busy. With himself. Very busy. I think uhh. I think he’s settled in for the night.”

“Oh,” Sendak said.

“You seem disappointed,” Bogh said with a smirk. “You want to go in there and check on him yourself? The door doesn’t lock, apparently.”

“No,” Sendak said, blushing furiously. “I- no. Good night.”

He retreated back to his own bedroom and sat at his desk where he was working on the Tripa board. The night was very quiet. The curtains were open and there was a pleasant breeze blowing lightly through the room. There wasn’t really anything separating Lotor’s room from his. They each had a wall, open to the air, a balcony. The only thing separating them was distance, and there really wasn’t very much of that either.

It would take a moment, a single leap, a heartbeat, to close the distance between them.

Sendak couldn’t help straining to catch a stray sound, a gasp, a sigh. Lotor was pleasuring himself in his room at this very moment. Sendak wondered how. Was he on his back, with his legs spread and his hand moving lazily over his cock? Maybe he was on his knees and pushing oiled fingers inside himself. He did that, sometimes. That part hadn’t been a lie.

Maybe he was thinking of Sendak. Maybe if he took that leap, from one balcony to the other, and walked into the room, then he could-

Sendak shoved the thought out of his mind. He couldn’t. For so many reasons he couldn’t. Maybe Lotor wanted him to. But if they made love and then Lotor slept with someone else Sendak wouldn’t be able to bear it. It would burn him up with anger and jealousy, with despair. And he wouldn’t be able to stay here, he really wouldn’t. He’d have to break his word to Lotor and leave like a coward, and he couldn’t leave just yet. He couldn’t leave Lotor alone.

He worked on the Tripa board late into the night, and when he finished he admired the result. It had come out beautifully. The game board folded up into a box and he’d used a piece of the dark curtains in his room to line the inside. The game pieces nestled into the box snuggly and he’d made sure to sand them so they didn’t have any splinters or rough edges. They were quite pleasant to the touch.

It was a full set- board and pieces. It was well made and playable. Maybe, if he had the time, he could hammer out coins and make armor for the little wooden soldiers. He could purchase varnish at the market and paint them so the wood would shine. Maybe not. There was beauty in simplicity, and the set did look quite beautiful as it was.

He was startled out of his thoughts by a flash of light, a faint rumble.

Sendak jerked to his feet and went out onto the balcony. There was a great fire in the distance, haunting blue flames licking up into the sky from something beyond the bounds of the city. It was the facility to harvest quintessence that had been under construction.

Lotor.

Sendak jolted. Where was Lotor? He turned, ready to rush and check, and froze. Lotor was right there, standing on his own balcony. He was watching the flames, so intent he didn’t seem to notice anything else. The blue fire played over his hair and danced in his eyes. He was holding a glass of champagne and he raised it slowly to his lips to take a drink.

He seemed lost in the spectacle. The wind ruffled his hair and he paid it no mind. He looked like some sort of otherworldly creature as he stood bathed in the blue glow of his fire. An angel, a demon, a specter.

The air was hushed, and then alarms went up in the city. People roused, soldiers rushed about. Platoons were dispatched to fight the blaze. From up here, it looked like ants running around a kicked-over anthill. Lotor watched with calm grace. The puppet master, watching his puppets dance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

Outside his rooms Lotor made sure to walk with a subtle limp and a slightly strained expression, as though he was hurt far worse and trying to hide it. Most of the Galra around him had too many other things to deal with to pay him much mind. 

The quintessence facility was a total loss. From what Sendak could gather from the conversations of those around him, there had been some minor malfunction that had caused a cascade of failures. Lotor had done it, obviously. Sendak wasn’t sure when. Ven’tar had taken them to inspect the facility a few times by now. Or maybe he’d snuck out during dinner, while he had the alibi of recovering from his beating.

Sendak thought of a nineteen year old Lotor, provoking Ranveig and getting twelve lashes so he’d have the alibi of being in the medbay when he’d gone to slit Vrag’s throat.

But something wasn’t right. When he was nineteen, his alibi was iron clad. This seemed tenuous. Only Porvok and his men knew what had really happened. To everyone else, it seemed like Lotor had been suspiciously absent on the day of the accident and then limped around after. Was that his plan? Or was it an oversight?

Sendak wasn’t sure about anything anymore.

One evening Lotor threw him a cloak and he dressed in his black armor again, and they went out into the night. Lotor met with some suspicious-looking locals at a bar, and didn’t stay as late as he usually did.

“We’re being followed,” Sendak murmured quietly to him as they walked through empty streets.

“I know,” Lotor said, just as quietly. “Pretend you don’t notice.”

“It would reflect badly on me if I didn’t notice,” Sendak said. “I’m a Lieutenant. A rising star of the Empire.” He thought of their poor disguises and took a guess. “Wouldn’t it be more suspicious to lose them?”

Lotor lips quirked up in surprise. “You’re right,” he said after a moment. “Let’s lose them.”

He took off running without warning and Sendak followed easily behind him. They took a winding path through alleys and burned out buildings, and ran until they found an easily scalable wall. They ran for a while over rooftops, jumping from one to another, until coming to a stop and dropping low so they could crawl forward and peer over the edge of the roof to see the pair of confused soldiers down below.

They were arguing, gesturing around wildly. They split up to do a thorough search of the area and Lotor turned to lie on his back with his hands behind his head. Sendak mirrored his posture and they stared up at the stars, waiting.

It was peaceful. They didn’t speak.

Finally Lotor sat up and ran his hands through his hair. “Think they’ve given up?”

“Probably.”

“Alright. Let’s go.”

They went to the shipyard and Lotor spent a long time wandering between cargo ships, marking crates with black ‘X’s with a piece of charcoal. He seemed to be marking them at random, but of course- nothing he did was random.

* * *

Porvok was livid at dinner the next day. It seemed there had been a theft at the shipyard. The latest shipment of weapons from the Empire had gone astray. All the weapons. It shouldn’t have been possible. The crates containing weapons had been shipped mixed in with other things- armor and rations, supplies and canisters of quintessence- exactly so this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.

“Oh dear,” Lotor said acidly. “How very unfortunate. You really don’t have any control of this colony, do you.”

“I’m in control,” Porvok growled. “These damn locals are pests. Thieves and liars, incompetent fools.”

“Really? I’ve found them to be sweet little lambs,” Lotor said. “Like lovely Ven’tar. So eager to please, to spread and bend over. This must be the easiest posting in the Empire. A child could have managed it better than you have. Just look how you’re handling this loss- like a bumbling fool.”

“You think you’re so clever,” Porvok hissed. “As if you’d do a better job.”

“Of course I would,” Lotor said flippantly. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? It had to be one of your own men, someone with access to the shipping manifest. Maybe even your Lieutenant.” He said it loudly enough for the Lieutenant in question, sitting at a nearby table, to hear.

He jerked to his feet in shock. “I would _never._ Sir- Commander Porvok, please-”

“Why so jumpy?” Lotor interrupted. “I’m simply laying out a possibility. You had access to the shipping manifest, did you not? The stolen goods were worth a fortune. Are you opposed to making money?”

“I- I-” the Lieutenant sputtered angrily. First Lotor had unceremoniously kicked him out of bed, and now Lotor was casually setting him up for an execution. He was livid.

“I don’t care,” Lotor said. “This isn’t really my problem either way.”

Porvok seemed to be listening to Lotor with interest for once.

“Handle it however you like, Porvok,” Lotor continued. “We both know you’ll make a mess. But at least if you do _something_ you’ll have something to report when my father inevitably shows up here to inquire as to why, after all this time, you’ve failed to accomplish anything of substance.”

Porvok paled at the thought.

Lotor reached for a slice of bread and knocked over his glass of wine. It spilled dramatically and he cursed, staring at the stain with a sour expression. “They’re always setting it too close to my elbow. I am sick and tired of all these... incidents. Every day, it seems, there’s something to spoil my appetite.” He stood abruptly and tossed his napkin to the table.

Bogh and Sendak moved to follow but he sighed with exasperation and waved them away. “I don’t need babysitters to take a walk through the gardens. Leave me alone.”

Bogh and Sendak shared a look but let him leave.

“Lieutenant,” Commander Porvok said sharply.

“Sir, I’m loyal, I swear it,” the Lieutenant said, a drop of sweat trailing down the side of his face.

“Then I’m sure you’ll have no trouble accounting for your whereabouts for the past week.”

The Lieutenant winced. Even the fact that he’d been asked meant he was firmly in place as a potential scapegoat. “Yes, sir. I’ll have a report for you by first light. Vrepit Sa, Commander!”

The man saluted and practically ran from the room.

“I guess I’ll go have a drink,” Bogh muttered.

“Have fun,” Sendak said and turned to leave the hall. 

The Lieutenant was angry. Lotor tended to have that effect on people. Sendak was careful to stay back as he followed. The Lieutenant wasn’t heading towards the living quarters, he was heading to the gardens.

It was dark out and the hedges were very high. Sendak gritted his teeth in annoyance as he realized he’d stayed too far back. He’d lost the Lieutenant. But he was here, somewhere. He was here, and angry, and looking for Lotor.

There was some scuffle nearby and Sendak hastened his step. Lotor could take care of himself but that didn’t mean he didn’t need Sendak there. Or maybe not need, so much as want. Sendak wanted to be there.

He turned the corner to see Lotor dropping the Lieutenant’s body to the ground, his throat slit. Lotor didn’t even have a single hair out of place.

“Oh good, just in time,” he said. He was holding a stiletto in one hand that he wiped on the grass before slipping it into his gauntlet. He took the dagger from the Lieutenant’s belt and scored a cut into his own side.

Sendak hissed in shock, taking a nervous half step closer.

“The game is- you killed him,” Lotor said and tossed him the bloody knife. “Guards!” he cried out, his voice coming out so genuinely panicked that Sendak flinched. “Guards! Guards!” 

There were footsteps approaching in the distance and Sendak stepped closer to muss up Lotor’s hair.

“Fantastic,” Lotor said. “Now hit me in the face.”

“No.”

_“Lieutenant.”_

“No,” Sendak said.

“Why did I hire you if you can’t even perform the most basic tasks?” Lotor asked, rolling his eyes. He raised his hand to his face. His claws were unsheathed.

Sendak grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him closer so he fell against Sendak’s chest with a muffled grunt.

That was how the soldiers found them- Lotor cowering against Sendak, his hair mussed and a bleeding cut in his side. Sendak, holding him with one hand and the Lieutenant's bloody knife in the other. The corpse on the ground before them.

“This brute attacked me!” Lotor cried out, shaking as though with anger and fear. “If it weren’t for my guard, I’d be dead! Where’s the Commander!”

One of the soldiers ran to fetch the Commander. Lotor was making a very good show of being distraught and in pain. He kept his hand pressed to his side. The blood stood out much better against his skin than against his dark armor.

The Commander arrived in a thunder of bootsteps.

“Do you see?” Lotor asked, gesturing wildly. Somehow he’d managed to smear blood over his face and hair. There seemed to be a great deal of blood.

Porvok recoiled, not sure what to make of the scene. Lotor had painted a pretty clear picture for him, and now he rubbed his face in it.

“It’s just as I said,” Lotor hissed. “I revealed his plan so he thought to silence me. Is this how you run your colony? Is this the discipline of your men? What would my father say, to find his son had been murdered in cold blood by someone under your command?”

“Prince Lotor,” Porvok managed, suddenly terrified at the prospect. “I- I can only… give you my deepest apologies. I had no idea he was- I always thought- he was always loyal to me. I- I- didn’t know-”

“It’s clear there’s much you don’t know,” Lotor spit out. He swayed on his feet.

Sendak dropped the knife and set his arm around Lotor’s waist to steady him.

“You should…” Porvok started nervously. “The medbay is-”

“I’m not stepping foot in your medbay,” Lotor said. “I’m not letting any of your incompetent butchers lay hands on me! Lieutenant, please-”

He leaned heavily against Sendak’s side as Sendak led him away, back to his quarters. As soon as they were out of sight Sendak carefully lifted Lotor into his arms. Lotor made a small sound of pain, a real one, and Sendak hurried through the halls.

Bogh met them outside the room, his eyes full of worry. “Is he-”

“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here,” Lotor muttered.

“Get the door,” Sendak said.

They rushed Lotor inside to the bathroom of his suite. Sendak sat him on the edge of the tub while Bogh got a first aid kit.

“It’s really not so bad,” Lotor said. Except there was so much blood.

Sendak peeled him out of his armor, trying to be as gentle as he could. Bogh returned with the medical kit.

“Let me-”

“I can do it,” Sendak muttered.

“You can’t,” Lotor said. He sat with his head leaning against the wall. He looked pale. “Your hands are shaking. Bogh can handle it. Go clean yourself up.”

“I-”

It was true. His hands were shaking. His hands were covered in Lotor’s blood.

“That’s an order, my dear brute,” Lotor said with a small smile.

Sendak stood and walked to his own room. He washed in a stupor and then got dressed in the black armor. It made him feel a little better. There wasn’t much he could do after that but sit at his desk, idly stroking the Tripa box.

There was a knock on the door and Bogh opened it without waiting for an answer.

“He’s fine,” Bogh said. “He really is. It was very minor. He took a blood thinner, so there was a lot of bleeding. You know. For the drama of it all. But the cut really was very minor. He’s in bed and in very good spirits, if you want to see him.”

“Thank you,” Sendak said with a nod. “I’ll-”

He stood and walked over to Lotor’s room. It was just as Bogh had said. Lotor was sitting in bed propped up against a mountain of pillows, eating candied fruit while he read his book about the dashing rogue.

“You’re alright?”

“Your concern is touching,” Lotor said. He patted the bed in invitation. Sendak came over and laid down beside him. Lotor was shirtless and Sendak stared at the bandage around his middle, crisp and white.

“Tell me a poem,” Lotor said lightly.

“Darling,” Sendak whispered, closing his eyes. “You’ll be the death of me.”

“Not up to your usual eloquence, I see.”

“Well. I’m very tired.”

“Sleep then.”

Sendak made to rise but Lotor set a hand on his shoulder.

“Here, I meant. Sleep here.”

“If I fall asleep, will you be gone when I wake up?”

Lotor turned a page in his book and carefully didn’t look at him. He expected a flippant response but instead Lotor was very serious when next he spoke.

“No. I’ll be here. And… if I should happen to be called away- I’ll wake you before I go.”

“Alright,” Sendak said, relaxing into the sheets.

“Take off your armor. That can’t be comfortable.”

“No,” Sendak said quietly. “I really don’t think it’s safe to be unarmored around you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

Things seemed to be getting worse for Porvok with each passing day. They couldn’t rebuild the quintessence extracting facility on the old site, the area was too toxic and had to be quarantined. The terrain around the city was not ideal, but finally they found a passable site. The head engineer came down with a mysterious illness. Building materials went missing.

Soldiers systematically searched the city but couldn’t find anything- not the materials, not the weapons from the previous theft. The embarrassment of the theft was huge- Porvok couldn’t request replacements from the Empire.

Lotor made an off-hand comment about opening up trade with aliens outside the Empire. Porvok seemed disgruntled. Nevertheless- if he didn’t want to lose face in front of the Emperor, there wasn’t much else he could do.

There suddenly seemed to be a lot of rough looking aliens around- people from Dihirie, and Thermica, and Straks. There was growing unrest in the city, minor incidents here and there that kept the occupying Galra troops busy and tired.

“I see there was more to your intermission than first appeared,” Sendak said quietly one day in the market as he watched a young alien from Straks pick a fight with a scarred Dihirie. The scarred Dihirie seemed vaguely familiar. Sendak squinted as he tried to place him only to realize he’d seen the man leaving Lotor’s rooms back when they’d been on his planet. The scuffle was broken up by a group of scowling Galra soldiers. Sendak had a feeling they were in for a few more.

Lotor simply smiled. “I happened to make some friends, that’s not a crime.”

“I see they missed you terribly, to have come out all this way to visit.”

“Who can blame them? I’m delightful.”

Some of the stolen Galra weapons resurfaced that night, via an armed uprising. Curiously, none of the rioters were caught.

Porvok wasn’t at the dinners so often anymore, he found himself quite busy with other matters.

Lotor seemed quieter too, more subdued. Sendak worried, because when Lotor was quiet it meant he was thinking. He wondered what was coming next.

* * *

Sendak had been ready to go to bed when there was a quiet, almost timid knock on the door. For some reason his heart was racing as he went to open it.

Lotor was on the other side in a long silk robe. His expression seemed oddly soft.

“Should I put my armor back on?” Sendak asked.

“You should invite me inside,” Lotor said quietly. “Sendak.”

Sendak shivered. He took Lotor’s hand and pulled him inside, and closed the door.

“I see I am a man, tonight,” Sendak said.

“It turns out you were a man all along,” Lotor said. “Who could have thought?”

Sendak stepped forward and raised his hands to cradle Lotor’s face gently, like he was something precious. Lotor’s eyelashes fluttered and he flushed.

“Why now?” Sendak whispered.

“You know why.”

“Oh,” Sendak said, a deep sorrow uncurling within him. He pressed his forehead to Lotor’s as he let it wash over and through him, taking a moment to pause, to breathe. He knew what this meant, why Lotor would come to him now and not sooner.

It was their last night together. Before their time was over Lotor wanted to know what it was like to make love.

If they did this, parting would only be more painful. If Sendak sent him away, they might recover from this in time. But he didn’t want to recover. He wanted to brand Lotor into his heart, his very soul. He wasn’t afraid of pain. He thought this particular pain might feel sweet.

Lotor stood very still under his hands but Sendak could feel the fluttering pulse in his throat, the slight tremble in his body as he held himself back. Sendak didn’t want to hold back.

Time seemed to slow. The room grew quiet and everything faded away. Slowly, afraid to break whatever magical moment had taken hold of them, Sendak bent and brought their lips together. Lotor gasped softly. It was a spark passing between them. After the first kiss Sendak drew back so he could see the expression in Lotor’s face, his eyes.

“Sendak,” Lotor whispered and Sendak kissed him again, slipping his hand into the hair at the nape of Lotor’s neck.

He stepped forward so Lotor’s back was pressed to the door and deepened the kiss. Lotor parted his lips for Sendak’s tongue and raised his hands to hold Sendak’s shoulders. He was shaking. Sendak pulled back to kiss his neck and could hardly believe how soft his skin was, how smooth. Lotor was quiet but he couldn’t hide his racing heartbeat, his shuddering breaths. He clutched at Sendak’s back like that was the only thing keeping him standing.

“Come along,” Sendak said, taking Lotor’s hand and pulling him towards the bed.

“So I see the difference between fucking and making love is that it’s very slow,” Lotor said with a faint smile.

“Are you in a rush?” Sendak asked, worried. It was possible he’d been wrong, and they had less time than he’d thought.

Lotor flushed and looked down. “No. We have the night.”

It wasn’t enough, but it would have to be. They kissed again, and Sendak laid Lotor out over the sheets and laid down beside him, pulling him close. He let himself touch Lotor’s back, his shoulders, run his fingers through his silky hair. He let himself get lost in the taste of Lotor’s mouth and the smell of flowers everywhere.

Lotor relaxed against him and kissed him back with a fervor that made Sendak’s head spin. Eventually he pulled back. He seemed nervous as his hands went to the belt of his robe.

Sendak opened it for him and gasped to see him wearing the red thing from the dress shop. Tiny underwear, a wide garter belt with laces almost like a corset, all of it satin and shining.

“Master seemed to like the others,” Lotor said flirtatiously.

Sendak swallowed hard. Lotor was scared and hiding behind a game. For a moment he considered letting him, and then he kissed Lotor very gently.

“My slave is very fine,” he said, caressing the edges of the garment and running a finger over the waistband of the underwear, not letting himself touch where Lotor’s arousal strained the fabric, not yet. “But I find I miss my prince.”

Lotor grimaced, back to himself. “I just- I didn’t think you’d want to see- the bandage.”

“I want you exactly as you are,” Sendak said. “Take it off.”

Lotor looked away as he unlaced the corset and pulled it off. He flushed as he took off the underwear too, until he was bare for Sendak’s gaze. 

“Beautiful,” Sendak murmured, moving to kiss him. “You’re so very beautiful.”

Sendak reached out to stroke his chest, his sides, distracting him with kisses until the nerves faded.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, tracing the edge of the bandage.

“Worse. It itches.” Lotor wrinkled his nose in an endearingly unstudied motion. Sendak brushed Lotor’s hair out of his face and Lotor closed his eyes, leaning into the touch with a soft sigh. Sendak let himself enjoy exploring his body, bare for him at last, running his hands over smooth skin and firm muscle, pressing kisses to his neck, his chest. Lotor moved to perform a tentative exploration of his own, leaving every place he touched tingling and singing with pleasure.

They kissed. The lights were low, the night quiet. There was a pleasantly warm breeze blowing in past the curtains. It was perfect. And then Sendak finally let his hands venture lower, past Lotor’s waist and over his hard cock. He felt very fine, the skin so soft there even with how hard he was, satin over steel. He fit so well in Sendak’s hand. Sendak gave him a few teasing strokes while Lotor’s lips parted and his breathing quickened, and then Sendak pushed further back, behind, and stroked where Lotor was already slick.

“Ah, the main event,” Lotor said, a small hitch in his voice.

“All of it is the main event,” Sendak said. “Did you bring more oil?”

“I’m already- I-” Lotor was very red. Sendak took his hand and set it over the front of his underwear so he could feel how hard Sendak was for him, and how big. “Ah,” Lotor said faintly. “I- well. Yes. I brought more oil.”

He was still partially tangled in his robe and he reached into the pocket to pull out a small bottle.

“Relax,” Sendak said with a smile and draped Lotor’s leg over his hip, opening him up a little before slicking his fingers. Lotor bit his lip and pressed close so that they lay with their chests flush against each other, and then tucked his head under Sendak’s chin. Lotor moaned, quiet and breathy, as Sendak pushed his first finger inside. It slipped in easily and Sendak had to bite his lip and close his eyes to try and focus on this moment rather than the thought of Lotor preparing himself before coming here.

He pushed in and out slowly as Lotor trembled against him. “More,” he demanded after a while, his voice shaky and plaintive.

Sendak added a second finger. Lotor tightened around him with a small sound and then relaxed. His erection was pressed to Sendak’s own. He was so hot between his legs, so hard. Every time Sendak moved he gasped a little, surprised like it was being forced out of him. He wasn’t pretending to moan. This was real.

“Come on,” Lotor whispered shakily. “You’re driving me mad. Just-”

“Payback,” Sendak said. “For all the times you’ve driven me mad.” He added another finger.

Lotor arched his back with a moan and Sendak watched his face, his fluttering eyelashes and flushed cheeks. His own arousal seemed distant in the face of Lotor’s pleasure, Lotor opening to him and wanting him.

But he wasn’t made of stone, and he was so hard. He needed Lotor so badly. Eventually he couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled his fingers free and took off his underwear at last. Lotor was flushed and silent as he watched, running his gaze down Sendak’s body hungrily.

“On your knees, I think,” Sendak said. He thought it might bring Lotor comfort to be able to hide his face, to think he was hiding his pleasure. He wouldn’t be, Sendak knew him well enough now that he would see it written over his body. But it would bring him comfort, to think he was hiding.

“I thought you said you’d put me on my back,” Lotor said with a smile.

“That was then, this is now. I told you- every time is different.”

Lotor didn’t protest, simply shifted to lie on his stomach and Sendak helped him into position, helped him get his knees under him and spread his thighs. He had to pause a moment, breathing hard, as he took in the sight before him, Lotor offering himself up like a beautiful gift.

“Darling,” Sendak said, and Lotor huffed out a laugh.

“Don’t,” he said with a smile in his voice. “I really can’t handle a poem just now.”

“Your loss,” Sendak said, settling behind him. “It would have been good. Something about your pretty little asshole being a rose.”

“Stop,” Lotor laughed.

“Maybe it would have been about how your thighs are as finely muscled as a stallion’s.”

“Sendak,” Lotor said warmly, and Sendak felt his skin tingling at the sound of his voice falling from Lotor’s lips.

“Say that again.”

 _“Sendak,”_ Lotor whispered, and then cried out, because Sendak was pushing inside. He was was so warm and tight, slick from the oil. It was the most exquisite feeling in the world to be allowed this close. The slide was easy, Lotor was open to him. He cried out again and fisted his hands in the sheets, and Sendak reached out to take one, twining their fingers together.

“Alright?” he breathed out.

“Yes,” Lotor said. “Yes, just- _move.”_

Sendak started to move. His whole body was a live wire. Everywhere they were touching felt electric. He held Lotor’s hand and touched him with the other. He ran his fingertips over his back, his trembling thighs, and then reached around to wrap his fingers around Lotor’s cock and started to stroke him.

Lotor tensed with a cry. “Sendak-” 

He was shuddering so hard he could barely speak. 

“Sendak wait- don’t-!”

Sendak froze. Before he could move back, Lotor’s hips jerked- once, twice- pushing himself back onto Sendak’s cock and into his hand, and then he whined and buried his face into the pillow, and came.

Sendak closed his eyes with a gasp of surprise, feeling Lotor’s body pulsing and tightening around him. It was amazing. Everything was amazing. The fact that Lotor wanted him so badly, was so overwhelmed by him, made him dizzy.

“Fuck,” Lotor muttered.

Sendak laughed and pulled away, moving to lie beside him while Lotor collapsed to the sheets.

“Dammit,” Lotor said. “Fuck.”

“Oh darling,” Sendak said, still smiling at him.

“Shut up.”

“Are you really upset?” Sendak asked.

“Yes!” Lotor said, keeping his face hidden in the pillow so his words came out muffled. “I was going to- to- come in here and- be all. Suave. And seduce you. And now I’ve just- made a fool of myself in under a minute like some blushing virgin!”

“You seduced me a while ago,” Sendak said. “I like it, that you want me so badly.”

Lotor didn’t seem convinced but at least he turned to look at him, disgruntled and flushed and so beautifully mussed. “I wanted it to last.”

“It will, the second time. Do you want to take a break, or do you want to keep going now?”

“I want to keep going,” Lotor said, almost petulant.

Sendak made himself comfortable, piling pillows against the headboard before sitting back. “Come here,” he said, patting his thigh.

Lotor moved to straddle his lap and wrapped his arms around Sendak’s shoulders, tucking his face against his neck. Sendak helped him adjust and open his legs wider, and then took him by the hips and helped him seat himself on Sendak’s cock.

Sendak sighed at the bliss of being inside him again and wrapped an arm around Lotor’s waist, supporting him and keeping him pressed close. Lotor was relaxed from his orgasm, sweet and pliant draped over his chest. Sendak stroked his hair and the scars over his back, and enjoyed the quiet sounds falling from his lips as Sendak rocked into him, slow and easy. 

It went like that for a while, and then Lotor started getting hard again and he began to move in time with Sendak’s rhythm, pushing himself back on Sendak’s cock, riding him, his gasps getting louder. Before much longer the easy pace wasn’t enough and Sendak put Lotor on his back and pushed his legs open and thrust into him for real, hard and fast and perfect.

Lotor clutched at his back with abandon and Sendak could feel thin lines of fire scoring his skin- Lotor’s claws. He wanted it, he wanted to claim Lotor and be claimed in return. He wanted this moment to leave a mark. _We had this. We were together, like this._

“Sendak!” Lotor sobbed, wrapping his legs around Sendak’s hips and trembling all over, tense and just on the edge.

Sendak gasped and bit at his shoulder almost helplessly, and Lotor keened and arched up against him, digging his claws in even deeper. A burst of pleasure, a burst of pain- they finished together and Sendak pulled Lotor close and kissed him and kissed him and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick warning: this chapter includes non-graphic discussions of past assault and attempted (implied) sexual assault

* * *

It was very late but Sendak didn’t want to go to sleep, not with Lotor lying pliant and sated in his arms.

“I have something for you,” Sendak said at last, breaking the reverent hush of the room.

“More lovemaking?” Lotor asked with a dazed smile.

Sendak laughed and pressed a kiss to his forehead before standing. He went over to the desk to pick up the Tripa board. He found himself oddly nervous as he climbed back into bed and set it on the sheets.

“What’s this?” Lotor asked curiously.

“A courting gift. Traditionally it would be a blade, but I thought you’d prefer a game.”

“How very old fashioned of you,” Lotor said, propping his face up on his hand while he ran the fingers of the other over the box.

“I’m an old-fashioned man.”

“When it counts,” Lotor finished with a sweet smile.

“The pieces are inside,” Sendak said, opening the box to show him. White on one side, black on the other.

“So that’s what they’re meant to look like,” Lotor said, reaching out to pick up the black king.

“More or less,” Sendak said. He’d carved Lotor’s likeness into the white king, and his own into black.

“Presumptuous,” Lotor murmured, “that you’d put us on equal footing like this. King to king.”

“I know. I’m much better at Tripa than you are. I really should have made you a knight.”

Lotor laughed and put the black king back. He paused, and then took the piece bearing his own likeness and pushed it into Sendak’s hands. “You worked so hard on these, you should get to keep at least one.”

“How are you going to play without a full set?”

“I don’t imagine I’ll be playing with anyone other than you.” Lotor’s eyes were very soft. “I suppose if it comes down to it, I could always use a coin.”

Sendak smiled, and kissed him some more. They upended the box, sending pieces everywhere, and Lotor laughed as he pulled back. They put the set away, neither in the particular mood for games at the moment, and Lotor settled against Sendak’s side with a content sigh.

“I asked you this once,” Sendak started, afraid of spoiling the mood and yet needing to know. “Why you were the way you are. I wonder if you’d tell me the truth, now.”

“Maybe,” Lotor said easily and Sendak raised his hand to stroke his hair.

“Why the games? What happened when you were seventeen?”

Lotor tensed, but then he simply turned his face into Sendak’s chest and sighed. “You could have asked Bogh.”

“It means more if you tell me yourself.”

“You’ve seen the training records by now. You know I was very good.”

“You were the best. You still are.”

Lotor laughed, breathy and quiet. “Flatterer.” He paused thoughtfully, and then his shoulders relaxed and Sendak held him a bit tighter.

“I was always small,” Lotor started quietly. “An easy target. I thought if I proved myself, I’d be accepted. I wanted so badly to be accepted by everyone. My father, most of all. But it was never enough.”

He spoke calmly, as though about something of little importance.

“They bullied me for being weak, and once I became strong they bullied me for something else. But I was really very stupid as a boy. I kept trying. I was top of my class, I thought that would make them respect me. It only made them resent me, to be ranked below a halfbreed, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Not until one of the boys came up with a plan to put me in my place.”

“Vrag,” Sendak said.

“Vrag,” Lotor agreed, some strange trembling emotion entering his voice. “He invited me to spar with him one night, outside regular sessions. I was the best, I thought nothing of the fact that he would want to train with me.

“Bogh warned me not to go. He’d overheard Vrag talking to a few others about what they were planning. I didn’t believe Bogh, of course. We weren’t… close, then. We’d hardly ever spoken, there was no trust between us. What he said- it was… it was beyond belief. I’d thought- aren’t we all Galra here? Aren’t we all comrades here? How could a Galra do such a thing to one of their own?”

Lotor’s voice was steady but Sendak was on the verge of being sick. He was terrified of how this story would end.

“So I went to the training deck. Vrag was there, waiting for me with four of his friends. I was better than each of them on their own, but what could I do against all five?

“They hurt me quite badly. Eventually they broke my fingers, and I just- I stopped fighting. There was no point to it anymore. And I thought if I didn’t fight, if I just- let them-”

Lotor shuddered and Sendak held him tighter, horrified.

“But they hadn’t counted on Bogh,” Lotor whispered, and sounded stronger. “I hadn’t counted on him either. They had me on my knees and stripped to the waist by the time he came with five others from our training class. He carried me to the medbay. He stayed with me, for most of it. He taught me my first game- blaster dagger poison. I had to- to- exercise my fingers, you see. So they’d heal properly.”

“Oh darling,” Sendak breathed out and brought Lotor’s hands to his lips. He kissed each one of Lotor’s elegant beautiful fingers and felt such rage as he’d never felt before.

“I realized after that,” Lotor continued, “how stupid I’d been. Trying to be good was only putting a bigger target on my back. It was better to be useless, overlooked, underestimated. At least that way everyone would leave me alone. I could work towards my own goals in my own way, and everyone would just… leave me alone.”

“I’m so sorry,” Sendak said, holding him close.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” Lotor said. “They’re all long dead by now.”

“Accidents,” Sendak said.

“Accidents,” Lotor agreed. “But I slit Vrag’s throat myself. I wanted to see the look in his eyes when I bested him for good. He was my first kill.”

“What about the other two?” Sendak asked. “You said five were waiting, but there were seven dead.”

“They knew,” Lotor said. “They knew what Vrag had planned, and they did nothing. They deserved it too. Do you think I’m a monster now?”

“I wouldn’t have made their deaths half so easy,” Sendak promised. “I would have made them all suffer dearly for what they did. For what they tried to do. If one of us is the monster, it’s me.”

“You? A monster?” Lotor laughed. “You’re a hopeless romantic.”

“A hopeless romantic in love,” Sendak corrected. “There’s nothing more dangerous in the entire universe.”

“How about a black hole?” Lotor teased.

“Darling,” Sendak said, looking at Lotor with a smile. “My heart is a black hole for you. I’ll burn down the world for one smile, one word, one look. I’ll swallow the universe, if you ask it of me. I’ll lay myself at your feet in worship and beg for your blessing. Take me and keep me or cast me away, I’ll still be yours.”

“Awful,” Lotor said, burying his face against Sendak’s chest to hide his blush. “You should stick to wood working, you’re good at that.”

“I’m good at a lot of things,” Sendak said and turned to take Lotor’s lips in a fierce kiss. He wanted to soothe him, protect him, wrap him up in his arms and make sure nothing and no one would ever hurt him. He whispered as much into Lotor’s ear and then made his way down Lotor’s body, pressing claiming kisses to his skin.

By the time he reached his goal Lotor was gasping and clutching at his shoulders, and when Sendak took him in his mouth Lotor moaned and arched his back and let his legs fall open wider. He tasted delicious, musky and sweet and perfect.

“Sendak,” Lotor sighed. “Can you… could you…”

“Yes, darling. Anything you like.”

Lotor blushed and threw his arm over his eyes, nervous. “Could you- inside. While you- while you… could you-”

Sendak pushed a finger inside where he was still slick and Lotor went boneless.

“Yes,” Lotor whispered shakily. “Yes. S-Sendak-”

Sendak would never tire of hearing his name fall from Lotor’s lips. Not when it meant so much, and felt like a treasure. He bent back to his task and took Lotor apart with his mouth and his fingers. He savored it, taking his time. He brought Lotor to the edge slowly, cherishing every gasp and whimper, the way Lotor clutched at his shoulders.

“Enough,” Lotor breathed out after a while. “Come up here.”

“Yes, sire,” Sendak said and moved back up his body, and Lotor wrapped his legs around his hips as he eased himself inside.

Lotor hissed a little with a faint frown and Sendak paused, bringing their foreheads together. “Are you sore?”

“Yes,” Lotor said. “But I want you to keep going.”

“Lotor-”

“I _need_ you to keep going,” Lotor said, and looked at him very seriously.

“Alright,” Sendak said at last, and rocked into him gently, like waves lapping against the shore. It was enough for both of them to finish together, and Lotor had a smile on his lips when Sendak carefully pulled out.

Sendak’s legs weren’t working so well, but he managed to get a washcloth and clean the both of them up, and it was his greatest joy to come back to bed and gather Lotor in his arms.

“Why did you pick me?” Sendak murmured, on the edge of sleep. “Why did you pick me to play your guard, and not someone else?”

Lotor smiled, just as sleepy and spent as Sendak was.

“I needed someone whose loyalty to the Empire was unquestionable,” he said. “Someone who was honorable enough to go through with the wager. Someone smart. Someone strong.”

“There are plenty of others who fit that description. Why _me,_ specifically?”

“Well,” Lotor said. “Well.” And then he burst into helpless laughter, wild and carefree. Sendak smiled at the sound, overwhelmingly pleasant.

Lotor laughed for a long time, and then he pushed himself up so he was braced above Sendak and looked down at him with a wide smile. “It was because they said you didn’t fuck!”

He laughed again and this time Sendak joined him.

“Some guards I’ve had before- they’ve wanted to fuck me. It was annoying, a distraction. I didn’t want distractions for this. So I- but you- you-”

“Oh dear,” Sendak said with a smile.

“And now I’m a lovestruck fool,” Lotor said, tears of laughter spilling down his cheeks. Sendak wiped them away.

“So I take it falling in love wasn’t part of your plan.”

“No,” Lotor said with a sigh and laid back down, snuggling close. “But you had to be so- so- _you._ You beat me at Kotat and made a fool of me in front of the smugglers, you helped me cheat at Rum’ka. You stayed, even when you could have gone. And then you had to be so utterly perfect in every way. I think I might hate you a little. You’ve ruined me.”

“You’ve ruined me just as surely.”

“You’ll find love again,” Lotor said, quietly. “I wonder what you’ll tell your next lover about me. Only the good things, I hope.”

“There won’t be a next,” Sendak said, sure of it even as he said it. “No one could compare to you.”

Lotor sighed quietly and the mood grew somber.

“Lotor,” Sendak whispered. “What’s going to happen tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow...” Lotor started and trailed off. “Tomorrow my father will come. And if everything hasn’t gone to plan, if I’ve made even a single mistake, left a shred of evidence… he’s going to execute me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/187745530660/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

Morning came too soon and Sendak woke with Lotor still in his arms. He roused him with a kiss and Lotor sighed, sleepy and warm, and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.

When he pulled away and padded to the bathroom Sendak felt painfully cold, worried.

“We should get ready,” Lotor said quietly when he returned, pulling his robe back on.

Sendak kissed him one last time and they parted ways to go bathe. Afterwards he opened the door and paused. Lotor was standing by the bed, dressed in his armor and perfectly composed. He was holding the Tripa box, staring at the pieces. He ran his fingers over them thoughtfully, and then plucked the black king out of the box and slipped it into his pocket.

Sendak felt warm all over as Lotor closed the box and tensed- finally realizing he was being watched.

“Sorry,” Lotor said, turning to face him and blushing as his eyes ran down Sendak’s body. “I- I forgot this here. I’ll- leave you to it.” He left the room and Sendak smiled as he dressed in his Imperial Armor.

The white king of the Tripa set was sitting on the nightstand and Sendak slipped it into his own pocket. It gave him a measure of strength, in the face of whatever was coming.

After he dressed he stepped out onto the balcony to take in the view for what he feared would be the last time. Zarkon’s flagship was visible from here, hovering ominously in orbit around the planet.

Sendak walked into the main room where Lotor and Bogh were waiting. He offered his hand to Bogh, who clasped it firmly. Bogh and Lotor embraced, and when they pulled away Bogh kissed him on the forehead. Sendak kissed Lotor on the lips. And then the three of them were leaving- Prince Lotor and his loyal guards, walking out into the unknown.

Emperor Zarkon’s shuttle landed and everyone of any importance assembled to greet him in the main hall.

Sendak saw a flash of annoyance and confusion over Zarkon’s face as he saw Lotor- he hadn’t expected his son to be here. Everyone fell to their knees and shouted, “Emperor Zarkon!”

“My lord father,” Lotor said quietly.

A strange stillness fell over the room. Zarkon had come here to scold Commander Porvok, and now here was Lotor- incongruously present at a failing colony that he hadn’t been invited to or had any reason to be at. Zarkon had come with his fury firmly pointed in Porvok’s direction, but now it swung to the side, towards Lotor.

Sendak could feel a bead of sweat forming on his forehead and trailing down his face with painful slowness. It didn’t look good. None of this looked good.

“Boy,” Zarkon said imperiously. “Explain your presence here.”

“My lord father,” Lotor said. His voice was humble, and for once Sendak wasn’t sure if he was acting or not. “I live to serve. I came here to see the fledgling beginning of a new province brought into the glorious light of the Empire. I wanted to feel the pride of conquest, and salute the man who’d accomplished such a feat.

“I stayed, because what I found here troubled me. Insolent troops, mismanaged supplies and equipment, a Commander drunk on his own power- working towards his own wealth and glory rather than for the good of his Empire and Emperor.”

“Lies!” Commander Porvok hissed, rising unsteadily to his feet.

Lotor raised his head to glare at him but stayed on his knees in deference to his father’s authority. “Is it not true that you’ve mismanaged this colony at every turn? Is it not true that you’ve failed to meet every deadline, that you’re months behind on completing construction of your quintessence mining facility, and even further behind on your quintessence production quota?

“Under your watch there have been thefts and riots, that’s simply a matter of public record. Men follow the lead of their superiors- and your leadership has turned them into lazy, incompetent-”

“Liar!” Commander Porvok yelled. “You’re-”

“Commander,” Zarkon said sharply. “I’ve seen the reports for myself. It’s true that you’ve failed in every way that matters.”

“I- I-” Porvok seemed wild with anger and fear, and then his gaze fell on Lotor and Sendak could see the moment where everything fell into place. _“You,”_ he hissed hatefully. “Everything was going to plan until _you_ came. It was you!”

There were murmurs in the hall, hushed nervous whispers. The air grew decidedly hostile, Lotor’s reputation working against him. Everyone knew him as a useless boy, a waste of space, a drunk and a slut, a halfbreed. He wasn’t a true Galra in their eyes, he was less than. Was it really so difficult to believe that he’d come and cause trouble, just to be contrary?

Lotor looked back at Porvok cooly, like it was beneath him to react to the accusation with anything more than boredom. “Do go on, Commander,” he said. “What is it exactly you think I’ve done?”

“Sire,” Porvok said, looking beseechingly back to Zarkon. “He came here with his nasty remarks and poisonous manner. He stirred up discontent among my troops. I assigned men to keep watch over him, and the night of the theft from the shipyards he slipped his guard. He- he has no alibi for the day the facility exploded, either. And he was injured after, everyone saw.”

“Wild unfounded accusations,” Lotor scoffed. “You’ll think of anything to try and save your skin. The theft was masterminded by your own Lieutenant, and I’m unconvinced you were unaware of his actions. Maybe you ordered him to-”

“Lies!” Porvok yelled, increasingly agitated. “You seduced him- everyone saw you leaving the banquet hall together. You must have accessed his files, the shipping manifest-”

“These accusations grow increasingly convoluted,” Lotor said dryly. “Why would I work against my Empire? My father? I’ve always been a loyal and dutiful son, despite my… youthful indiscretions. I’m sure we’re all curious to see you produce proof that I was involved in any of your fumbles.”

“I- there are witnesses-”

“Are there?” Lotor pushed. “Please- bring them forward with due haste. Your Lieutenant is unfortunately unable to come and clear his name, seeing as how he was killed following his attempt on my life. Do you have witnesses to me performing some sort of sabotage? No?”

Porvok growled in anger, feeling Lotor’s web closing around him like a noose.

 _“I_ have witnesses,” Lotor said, his voice ringing clear and strong through the hall. “I sent Lieutenant Bogh to investigate your troops. He’s witness to the fact that your men are insolent and undisciplined. They engage in drinking and gambling and even more unsavory activities. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find they’d engaged in theft or cut corners that could have resulted in the facility’s destruction. And-”

There Lotor faltered. Sendak realized why. The other witness was himself, and now Lotor was afraid to drag him into it.

“Sire,” Sendak said, taking the decision out of Lotor’s hands. “The other witness is me. I’ve been at Prince Lotor’s side this whole time.”

He thought of Lotor marking crates, and watching blue fire in the distance, and baiting Porvok’s Lieutenant into attacking him. He thought of Lotor’s schemes and tricks and lies. 

And then he thought of Lotor giving gifts to children, comfort to the people of this colony, new and better lives to Izak and Aramina and so many countless others. He thought of Lotor’s magic tricks and games. He thought of Lotor sighing in his arms, and moaning for him. That had been true. That was who he was. He was good and true behind his mask of tricks. And Sendak loved him, and he’d do anything to protect him. Anything at all.

“I’ve never seen Prince Lotor doing anything like what Commander Porvok is accusing him of,” Sendak lied firmly.

The tone of the room shifted, slightly, in Lotor’s favor.

“I tire of this,” Zarkon said. “This pointless squabbling is pure hear-say. The fact remains- this colony is a failure and someone will be held responsible.”

“Sire, please!” Porvok pleaded. He was in charge of the colony, after all. The responsible party was almost certainly him. But he tried one last time to shift the blame. “Please allow me to clear my name!”

“And how do you intend to do that?” Zarkon demanded.

“I maintain that Prince Lotor is behind the failures here,” Porvok said, and something in his stance shifted into relaxation. He thought he was about to win. “Let us decide this like true Galra. Let us duel to the death, and the victor be vindicated.”

Ah.

The beating outside the brothel, the charade in the gardens, the constant needling and the refusal to spar- it had all been leading to this moment. They said Lotor didn’t know how to fight and Lotor had made damn sure that Porvok believed it.

“If it will please my lord father,” Lotor said humbly, “then I’d be honored to accept the duel.”

“Let it be so,” Zarkon said dismissively and walked to the head of the hall where there’d been a throne set up for him. He sat and everyone rose to their feet.

Porvok moved to stand in the middle of the hall with a nasty smirk, holding his sword to his side.

Lotor moved out to meet him, unsheathing his own sword.

Sendak knew for himself how good Lotor was, but he still couldn’t help but be worried. Porvok was fresh and well-rested. Lotor had spent most of the previous night making love. They’d only managed a few hours of sleep, and Lotor had woken him some time before dawn and demanded they do it all again.

Sendak cursed himself silently. He’d agreed. No doubt Lotor was sore, though he didn’t show it. If Lotor lost now, Sendak feared it would be all because of him. He let his hand drift to his belt, to his dagger. If it came to it- he’d be ready to intervene.

“Begin,” Zarkon said, almost bored.

Porvok charged with a grin. He thought this was going to be easy. Lotor sidestepped the blow but Porvok wasn’t deterred. He came at Lotor with a series of wild slashes; Lotor turned them all back. He parried, he ducked.

Porvok’s smirk started to fade.

There was whispering in the hall. The useless prince was holding his own against a Commander.

Sendak knew Lotor’s preferred attacks, his style, his tactics. He was small, and as a result he was fast and agile, with greater stamina than bigger Galra. He used those facts to his advantage, letting his opponents tire themselves out before going on the offensive.

That wasn’t what he did now and Sendak knew it was because he had his audience in mind. This was another play, another show. Lotor had engineered his fall from grace, and now he engineered his rise.

He stalled only long enough to get a measure of Commander Porvok, then set his jaw and went on the offensive in a way the watching Galra- his watching father- would respect. He used none of his fancy techniques, none of his trickery or clever tactics. He widened his stance and attacked with brute strength, using purely Galra moves.

Porvok was shocked and Lotor used that shock to drive him back, and back, and back. The Commander didn’t have a chance. He did his best to keep up but it was no use. Lotor was strong and powerful and glorious, and now everyone could see the truth of it.

Lotor maneuvered them expertly through the hall and Sendak could see that it was so his skill was on full display for his father. He glanced over and saw that Zarkon seemed faintly bored and the thought of it turned his stomach.

Porvok was flagging. Lotor was simply toying with him now, showing off a little. He wanted to make sure his win was spectacular and unquestionable. The audience was dead silent. Porvok was gasping and sweating, and then he gritted his teeth and rallied the last of his strength for a final mighty blow.

Lotor met it head on and there was a horrible screech of steel against steel as Porvok’s blade shattered. He staggered forward, his eyes wide with surprise, and Lotor took advantage of his shock. He moved as quick as a viper. With one final blow he severed Porvok’s head from his body.

Porvok’s body collapsed. His head rolled away before coming to a stop at Zarkon’s feet. Another bit of carefully calculated theatre.

Lotor twirled his sword in an elegant maneuver, flicking the blood off of it, and sheathed it again before dropping to one knee.

“Vrepit Sa,” he said, bringing his fist to his chest. There was a pinched expression on his face. Sendak knew this hadn’t been about getting rid of Porvok. If that was what Lotor wanted he could have accomplished it in any number of easier ways. This was about something else.

Zarkon’s expression was smooth and cold as he stared down at his son for a long tense moment. Then he looked away like what he’d just seen had no importance.

“Now I have to find another to take this posting,” Zarkon said at last, like what Lotor had done had greatly inconvenienced him.

Lotor shivered.

Sendak’s heart ached for him. His father couldn’t even be bothered to grace him with a quick _well done_ for his show of strength.

“My lord father,” Lotor said, his voice steady. “During my time here, I’ve become familiar with the particular challenges of this colony. I’ve seen what needs to be done. I can take charge here, and bring glory to the Empire.”

 _“You?”_ Zarkon asked incredulously.

“Please- allow me to prove myself. I won’t disappoint you.”

“I see Lieutenant Sendak has had a sobering influence on you,” Zarkon said.

Sendak swallowed, holding back anger and sorrow. It hurt, that Zarkon would attribute Lotor’s achievements to someone else. It hurt even worse that the someone was himself.

“Yes,” Lotor said humbly. “Lieutenant Sendak has a firm guiding hand. He’s helped me realize the errors of my ways. I wish to atone for my past behavior. I can only beg you to allow me that opportunity.”

It wasn’t right that Lotor was begging for scraps when he deserved so much more. He deserved everything.

The moment was tense. It only grew more so when Zarkon stood. “Step forward, Lieutenant.”

Sendak stepped forward, standing behind Lotor’s kneeling form.

Zarkon walked until he was standing before him. He reached out and set a hand on Sendak’s shoulder. “Good work, Lieutenant Sendak.”

Sendak’s mouth was dry. Not so long ago those words would have filled him with pride. Now they filled him with nausea. Lotor was still kneeling silently, unacknowledged. Forgotten.

“You’ve done what no one else has managed to do,” Zarkon continued. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, sire,” Sendak forced out, nearly choking on the words. None of this was right.

“Boy,” Zarkon said and Lotor flinched. “The colony is yours. Don’t disappoint me.”

“I won’t, my lord father,” Lotor whispered.

“Attend me, Lieutenant Sendak,” Zarkon said, “we have much to discuss. Your new posting, for one. You may have your pick, but I want you on the border.” He walked away and Sendak was forced to follow him out of the hall, and out of Lotor’s life.

It was time for Sendak to step back on his path.

The game was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/187745530660/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	23. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic contains references to things I've used in other fics, made up names and that sort of thing - easter eggs. In order to win- you have to be the first to name the easter egg and put down the name of the fic that it originally appeared in, via AO3 comment.
> 
> You can only win once per chapter, and no more than 3 times over the course of the fic. Once something has been claimed and identified, it's off the table for the rest of the fic. I'll keep track in the notes.
> 
> You must make your claim in the following format:
> 
> [specific name of thing] - [name of fic that it first appeared in]  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Pls don't guess more than one at a time, so other commenters can get a chance!
> 
> See current claims in end notes

* * *

Sendak was assigned to a prestigious posting on the border of the Empire, though as a fledgling Commander he was mostly in charge of patrols, not conquest. He was glad. He suddenly found the idea of conquest to be sickening.

He wanted to get in contact with Lotor but he didn’t know how or if Lotor would want him to. Most of all- he wanted Lotor’s success to be his own, his achievements his own. He kept tabs as best he could, reading all the reports that were available. He knew, vaguely, that Bogh had been assigned a Command of his own, on a space station of some sort.

He knew, vaguely, that Lotor was doing well for himself on his colony. It wasn’t nearly enough.

Sendak wasn’t alone- he’d made Haxus his Lieutenant. They had a warm camaraderie that kept some of the aching yearning at bay. He knew Lotor wasn’t alone either- he had Ven’tar by his side, and he was good at making friends, finding allies. Bogh seemed to be doing well too. He’d called, once. They’d kept their conversation brusque, professional, just in case someone was listening. There had been a woman in the background.

A few months into his Command he couldn’t take the ache any longer and took a leave of absence for a few days.

He couldn’t go visit Lotor. That wouldn’t look good. But he had a feeling that he knew how Lotor might contact him, if he was so inclined.

He went to Straks, and the dress shop.

“Oh darling,” Aramina said, taking one look at him and drawing him into the back room. “You poor thing. You must miss him terribly.”

“I do,” Sendak managed. “I- I thought he might… I thought he might leave a message for me here. Is there-?”

“Oh yes,” Aramina smiled. “He sent this along quite some time ago,” she said, pointing to a crate. Sendak smiled back. He opened it with shaking hands to find the black armor.

“And there was something else,” Aramina said. “The package came just last week.”

This one was smaller, and Sendak waited until he was back in his quarters to open it. He laughed a little when he saw what it was-

A Tripa set. The pieces were carved out of a strange polymer that felt like stone to the touch, elegant and abstract. The board was heavy, maybe metal, and thick. Sendak set up the board on his nightstand and found that there was a piece missing, the white king.

Lotor had kept it to complete his own set. Sendak pulled the carved wooden piece he’d made out of his pocket and set it in the empty spot. It warmed his heart to know that they each had a piece of the other’s set. It felt good, right.

He stared at the soldiers before him, not sure what he was waiting for. Still, he waited. Because Lotor had made this board, and there was clearly more to it than there first appeared.

Right before his eyes, one of the white pieces slid from one space to another. It was the opening move Lotor had made when they’d first played. Sendak’s breath caught in his throat. He made a move of his own.

White answered.

Lotor was on the other side.

Sendak grinned like a lovestruck fool. He missed Lotor so badly and now he felt almost as though he were here.

They played late into the night and Sendak won in the end. Lotor was somewhat at a disadvantage. He couldn’t move the white king, as it wasn’t equipped with whatever magnets or technology that allowed the other pieces to glide over the board. It seemed oddly apt. Lotor was caught in place- suspended at his colony. And maybe- maybe Lotor wouldn’t run from him, if it came to it.

They kept playing after that, making moves here and there, around their duties. They were both busy so their games lasted weeks, and later- months.

The reports from the Lotor’s colony were groundbreaking. He’d achieved a level of quintessence output no one ever had before, and somehow, impossibly, the levels held steady. The colony was stable. There was no unrest, no complications, just a smooth well-oiled machine. That was what Lotor did. That was what he was capable of- perfection.

And then the next report came in and Sendak was sure it was some sort of horrible mistake.

Emperor Zarkon had visited the colony and found Lotor’s methods lacking. The colony was destroyed and Lotor exiled to parts unknown.

The Tripa set didn’t move again.

* * *

Three months went by before Sendak’s fleet passed close enough to Bogh’s space station that he could justify stopping there to resupply.

Bogh greeted him as one Commander greeted another- a polite clasping of hands and a small nod, no hint of the history they shared.

Bogh invited him to dinner in the Commander’s quarters, as was only polite. Sendak accepted.

As soon as they were in the privacy of Bogh’s rooms they embraced and Sendak let his posture sag.

“You know, I’m not so much hungry as I am thirsty,” Bogh said, pulling out a bottle of cheap whiskey, the kind soldiers drank.

“Yeah,” Sendak said as Bogh filled two glasses.

“Shall we pour one out for our fallen prince?” Bogh asked, staring into the amber liquid.

“No,” Sendak said vehemently. “No. He’s not dead. Bogh- tell me he isn’t dead.”

Bogh’s lips curled up in a little smile. “No, he isn’t dead.”

Sendak felt a weight lifting off him. He hadn’t really thought… but there was no way to know, not really.

Bogh clanked his glass against Sendak’s and they both drank deeply before sitting at the table.

“He sent me a message,” Bogh said. “A few weeks after it happened. The access codes for all his accounts.”

“So I take it you’re a rich man now,” Sendak said.

Bogh laughed uproariously. “Hardly! He barely had two GAC to rub together the whole time I knew him. He mostly dealt in favors, not money. I think the reason we stayed on Straks so long was because he couldn’t afford to buy fuel for the ship.”

“But-” Sendak paused. They’d left after the visit to the dress shop. “He took a cut from the dress shop?”

“Nah,” Bogh said. “The girls offered, but he said no. They had a different arrangement.”

“Gifts.”

“Yes. When he needed money he’d bring them cloth from some faraway place, and they’d overpay him. They got to help him, he got to save face. Anyway, I took all the money he had and bought a bottle of whiskey to share with you. It’s only courtesy of our prince that we’re drinking this cheap swill.”

Sendak laughed, Bogh joining him.

After they calmed Sendak couldn’t help feeling lonely all over again. “He hasn’t sent me anything.”

“You think so?” Bogh asked, and pulled a small package out of his pocket. “I think I’m easier to reach than you are. He knew you’d be by eventually.”

Sendak took the package and opened it slowly, upending it into his hand. A Tripa piece rolled out- the black king Sendak had carved in his own likeness.

He set it on the table before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the white king to put beside it.

“What the hell is it supposed to mean?” Sendak muttered. “He really is a bastard. He could have sent a letter, but he sent another game.”

Bogh looked on curiously. “You have the matched set now,” he said thoughtfully. “I think he wants you to find him, but he’s too afraid to ask outright.”

Sendak sighed heavily, annoyed, and then he started to laugh. “I told him I liked figuring it out myself.”

“Idiot,” Bogh said fondly.

They drank. They talked about the good old days. It had been at least two years since they’d last seen each other. Bogh was married to his lady friend now, and she was stationed with him at his post. She was expecting twins. He was happy. They lamented the fact that Lotor wouldn’t get to play with the babies, they lamented the fact that Lotor was gone. They lamented.

“He’ll be alright, you know,” Bogh said, slurring his words slightly. “He has… he has friends everywhere. He has- he’ll make his own way. He’s good at that. He’ll be alright.”

“I don’t think I will be,” Sendak said quietly. “I miss him. I miss him like my heart is torn in two. I can’t- I need him. I just. I need to see him.”

“So go see him,” Bogh said.

“How?” Sendak asked.

Bogh looked pointedly at the Tripa pieces still standing on the table, and suddenly Sendak knew.

* * *

If the pieces were a clue, they were a clue pointing directly to Dihirie. That was where he’d bought the wood, as Lotor well knew.

He took a leave of absence and a small ship. He put on his black armor and set a course for Dihirie.

He wandered the market for two days, looking for any sign of Lotor, aching for a glimpse of white hair. He strolled past stalls and stores, explored the outskirts. He went to the warehouse district and the garment district. It was by chance that he ended up outside a shipyard, by chance that he heard Lotor’s voice-

“I need more power, Izak!”

“If I give you more power you’ll blow us all sky high,” came the unimpressed answer.

Sendak was drawn forward as if by a magnet.

“How do you expect to accomplish anything in this world if you’re too afraid to blow anything up?” Lotor asked with a laugh. “Stop being a prissy little bitch and crank up the power like I’m telling you.”

“Fuck you,” Izak said, and there was a sound like a hum, intensifying.

“That’s more like it.”

Sendak walked between hulks of partially disassembled ships until he stepped out into a small clearing of packed dirt, and a nearly completed shuttle. It was plugged into some sort of console and Sendak recognized Izak standing before it, though his soft features had faded to sharp angles. He was a young man now, no longer a boy.

Lotor was sitting on top of the ship, fiddling with something through an open console. He was wearing a tank top and leggings, heavy boots. His hair was pulled back into a messy bun and everywhere he was streaked with grease.

There was another man too, handsome with dark curly hair and amber eyes. He was standing on the ground, holding some sort of tool and staring up at Lotor adoringly. Sendak felt a pang of jealousy deep in his chest.

“Sandir, my sweet,” Lotor said without looking up. “My lovely little dumpling. If you could manage to stop staring at my ass for even one single moment, we might actually finish sometime this century.”

Sandir blushed and looked away, and that was when he saw Sendak. His eyes widened and he took a nervous step back. “Uh- Tor?”

Lotor looked up and froze. His cheeks flushed, his lips parting around a soft gasp. “Sendak?”

“I came to return something of yours,” Sendak said, amazed at his own composure. His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest, his palms were sweating. He could hardly breathe past the joy flooding his heart. Somehow he managed to dig his hand into his pocket to pull out the black king, and tossed it to Lotor.

Lotor nearly fumbled it, and when he saw what it was he broke out into a wide smile.

Sendak couldn’t keep it together after that, striding forward as Lotor slid off the ship and came towards him. He bent to grab Lotor around the waist and Lotor wrapped his arms around his shoulders. They embraced tightly and Sendak spun him around a few times, happier than he’d been in a long time. He felt like he was floating.

“You came to find me,” Lotor whispered.

“Of course,” Sendak said fiercely. “Of course I did. You could have made it a little easier for me.”

Lotor laughed.

“Oh, it’s you,” Izak said, sounding entirely unimpressed. “The brute.”

“The brute,” Lotor said fondly, taking Sendak’s face in his hands and pulling him down for a passionate kiss.

“Oi! Get a room!” Izak cried out. “You’re disgusting- you’ll scare away all of poor Sandir’s customers!”

Lotor pulled back with a laugh and took Sendak’s hand. “Sorry, dumpling,” he said to Sandir, who was watching them with a small disappointed smile. “I have to- I- we’ll have to finish later.” And then he was dragging Sendak away.

There was a small building at the back of the shipyard and Lotor led him inside and up a set of rickety stairs until they were in a tiny bedroom. Lotor shut the door and Sendak couldn’t wait any longer. He pressed Lotor up against it and kissed him, swallowing up all his moans.

Sendak fumbled for the latches of his armor, cursing that he’d worn the damn thing at all- this would have been faster if he’d just shown up naked.

Lotor shoved him back a step with a laugh and whistled sharply, a distinct and lilting note. As one, every latch on the armor popped open and the pieces fell down around him like rain. Sendak stared in shock. “You-”

“In case I had to kill you,” Lotor said, very seriously. “And the taser in the collar wasn’t working.”

“I’ve been walking around in a death trap this whole time?” Sendak asked incredulously. And then, fondly- “Liar.”

Lotor laughed and Sendak surged forward to claim his mouth again, groaning at the feeling of Lotor’s body against his. He could feel Lotor’s erection through their clothing and he shoved his thigh between Lotor’s legs. Lotor gasped and let his head fall back against the door and Sendak kissed his neck, and fought to breathe, and pushed himself against Lotor for some relief.

 _“Gods,_ I’ve missed you,” Sendak growled, too wild to even bother trying to get the rest of their clothes off. After all this time, even just being this close was enough.

“Did you- _ah!-_ did you- cry yourself to sleep?” Lotor managed, wrapping his arms around Sendak’s shoulders like that was the only thing keeping him standing.

“Every night,” Sendak said with a smile and nipped at his ear, and clutched at his back. He smelled of grease and sweat and Sendak wanted him like he’d never wanted anything before.

 _“Sendak,”_ Lotor moaned as he came and Sendak followed soon after, leaving them shivering and slumped against each other, still fully dressed.

“Not up to your usual standard of lovemaking,” Lotor said dryly, looking down their bodies.

“You’re one to talk,” Sendak said and pulled away, taking Lotor’s hands and leading him over to sit on the bed. He knelt before him and took one of his feet, bracing it against his chest as he picked open the laces of his boot.

“I missed you too,” Lotor said quietly, watching as Sendak pulled the boot off and started on the other. “Desperately. It’s been… difficult.”

Sendak paused and pressed his face to Lotor’s thigh, breathing deeply. “Yes,” he whispered. “Let’s get cleaned up, I assume you have a shower around here?”

“You assume wrong, my brute,” Lotor said with a smile. “But there’s a bath.”

“Even better.”

There was a small bathroom with a surprisingly large tub. Lotor turned on the water to fill it and Sendak stripped out of his jumpsuit and underwear, leaving it haphazardly on the ground. He turned to Lotor and pulled off his tank top, and then his leggings. He wasn’t wearing anything underneath and Sendak kissed him again, gentle this time.

They got lost in it, and when Lotor pulled away the tub was nearly full.

“Damn,” he said, turning off the water. “I’ll have to drain some out.”

He bent over to open the drain and Sendak couldn’t help admiring the view, reaching out to stroke Lotor’s side, his ass.

“Handsy,” Lotor laughed, and then he was gesturing for Sendak to get in.

He sat in the tub and Lotor came in after him, settling between Sendak’s legs with his back to Sendak’s chest. Sendak wrapped his arms around him and Lotor relaxed with a sigh. Bliss.

Sendak let himself enjoy the moment for a while, and then he reached for the soap.

“I see you’ve made a life for yourself here,” he said quietly while he soaped up Lotor’s back, his arms, his beautiful calloused hands. There was so much grease, but slowly he washed it away.

“No. Not a life. An… intermission. I was waiting to see if- if you’d come find me.”

“I’ll always come find you. Our Tripa games were the only thing keeping me sane while we were apart.”

Lotor tensed. “The Tripa board… the beautiful board you made for me. It’s gone now. I only had the black king because I’d been keeping it with me.”

Sendak held Lotor closer, hearing all the things he wasn’t saying. The colony, all the people there- Ven’tar. They were all gone and Lotor was devastated. But he’d picked himself up, and found his way to a place where Sendak might find him, and settled in to wait.

“I’m sorry,” Sendak said, and hoped Lotor could hear what he wasn’t saying too. It was wrong, what Zarkon had done. Maybe all of it was wrong. Sendak regretted his part in all of it now but he didn’t know what to do. He was trapped.

“How long can you stay?” Lotor asked.

“As long as you’ll have me,” Sendak said. “Forever. Let’s run away together.”

He let his hands roam over Lotor’s body, relearning all the sculpted planes of his chest, his muscled arms, his elegant fingers.

“We can go to Trakia and hide away from the universe. I’ll build a house for us, and I’ll make you a dozen Tripa boards. A hundred.”

Lotor laughed, relaxing as Sendak’s touch grew more sensual. He stroked the insides of Lotor’s thighs and ran his hands over his lower stomach, teasingly close to where Lotor was growing hard again.

“And what will I do in this scenario?” Lotor asked.

“What do you always do?”

“Fuck around, play games.”

“Yes,” Sendak whispered, taking Lotor’s cock in a loose grip and stroking him slowly. “And every night I’ll lay you out over the soft grass, and we’ll make love under the stars.”

“Mm,” Lotor hummed, his legs falling open wider. He was trembling faintly and Sendak pressed a kiss to his neck. “Wouldn’t we be awfully bored in this scenario?”

“We’ll run away to Straks, then,” Sendak countered, the fantasy shifting easily. “We’ll find a place close to the dress shop, and the girls will make you gifts to wear in bed for me. Maybe they’ll make something for me, too.”

Lotor laughed. “I might like to see that.”

“We’ll get a small place, and fill it with your books. We’ll go to bed together every night and wake up together every morning. We’ll go back to the lake you took me to, and I’ll make love to you on the grassy bank.”

“There seems to be a lot of grass in your fantasies,” Lotor said breathily. Sendak tightened his grip a little just to feel Lotor tensing against him, and slid his free hand down Lotor’s chest and lower, lower. He draped Lotor’s leg over the edge of the tub to open him up and touched his entrance, stroking rather than penetrating, a promise of things to come.

Lotor sighed against him, his breath quickening.

“I like grass,” Sendak said, pressing his smile to Lotor’s neck. There wasn’t grass aboard ships. There wasn’t sunlight, or summer, or birds singing in the trees. “We can bring a blanket,” he conceded. He was very hard against the small of Lotor’s back but it seemed far away, as far away as that beautiful day by the lake.

“I’ll kiss my way down your body, and take you in my mouth while I push my fingers inside you to ease you open. You’ll be content to be still for once, and you’ll bask in my love- as warm as the sunshine. We’ll make love for hours, and then we’ll go to the home we share, and make love some more.”

“Whenever will we have time to eat?” Lotor asked, aiming to keep his voice steady and not quite managing it. Sendak smiled, and sped up the motion of his hand, and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Lotor’s neck, leaving a mark. The room was quiet but for the splashing of water and Lotor’s sighs, their breathing mingling together.

Lotor’s body tightened and he came with a small gasp before sagging boneless against Sendak’s chest.

“We’ll go have dinner with the girls at the dress shop,” Sendak said with a smile. “And they’ll tease the both of us for being so in love. Maybe you’ll open an orphanage, and spend your days running around after the children, and buying them toys.”

“Sendak,” Lotor murmured, turning his face away. “You have such beautiful dreams. But we can’t. We really can’t.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not.”

Sendak sighed heavily.

“You must have seen the reports, the projections,” Lotor continued. “More recent ones than what I’ve had access to. Straks will be under Imperial control in a matter of years. A decade at most, if they’re lucky. Dihirie will be next, and even Vair-Vasal will be swallowed up before the end of the century.

“What life could there be for us, for anyone, while the Empire continues to spread and devour?”

Lotor was right. Sendak hated that he was right.

“All this time,” Lotor said, “I thought I was smart, clever. But it turns out I was just as terribly stupid as I’ve ever been. I thought-” He broke off, swallowing loudly. “I really thought the witch was behind it all. I thought if I was good enough, did the right things, _showed him_ that there was a different way… I thought he’d cast the witch aside and we would-”

He sighed, smiling ruefully. “It seems so foolish now. So childish. I really thought he’d… see me, and- make me his right hand. I imagined- father and son, side by side, fixing the mistakes of our past, building a glorious Empire. A good Empire.

“I understand now, that will never happen. He’ll never see me. He only sees power. And so…”

“You’re going to take the Empire.”

“Yes,” Lotor whispered. “And if I can’t take it… then I’ll burn it down.”

Sendak shivered. The water was growing cold, but not as cold as Lotor suddenly felt in his arms. A prince of ice and snow, a boy that never smiled.

“I’ll help you,” he said, and wasn’t even surprised at himself. He’d already lied to the Emperor, that was already treason. He’d helped Lotor cheat and steal and kill, and it had all been building to this. The game of kings. The game of empires.

“Whatever you need, I’ll do it,” Sendak said.

“I’m going to need you to hold me in your arms,” Lotor said. “And kiss me, and make love to me, and let me bask in your warmth and your voice and soak up every moment of your presence. And then- when your leave of absence is over- I’m going to need you to go back to your ship, and do my father’s bidding.”

 _“Lotor,”_ Sendak whispered. The thought of parting again was a knife to the heart.

“I’m sorry,” Lotor said and rose from the bath. Sendak could only watch him, bathed in the glow of the setting sun falling through the window, nude and powerful and the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. “This is the way it has to be, for now. You’ll be more useful to me as a Commander than as a deserter.”

Suddenly Lotor smiled, warm and wicked. “This time I’ll let you know what I’m planning in advance.” He grabbed two towels and offered Sendak one. Sendak stood too, water sluicing down his body.

“And what are you planning, my prince?” Sendak asked, ignoring the towel in favor of wrapping an arm around Lotor’s waist and pulling him flush against his body.

“I have dreams too, my love,” Lotor said, looking up at him. “I dream of peace and prosperity, children playing in the streets without a care in the world. I dream of happy people, safe and free.”

“And where are we, in this dream?”

Lotor’s smile widened. “In my dream there are two thrones, standing side by side.”

“Together, then,” Sendak said.

“Together,” Lotor agreed.

“I find that’s all that matters,” Sendak said, and leaned in for a kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/187745530660/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord


	24. Arc IV: The Game of Empires

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't believe it's over ;_; It's been a wild ride- thank you so much for reading and all your lovely comments!!! <3

* * *

Sendak was reading mind numbing reports on his datapad when he saw motion out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head and grinned, his heart starting to pound with excitement as he stared at the Tripa board he kept on his nightstand.

The pieces were moving.

It was a delicate dance, black and white. The kings were missing from the board, but that didn’t matter. They were playing a different game now. It seemed to take a long time, and then the pieces stopped in a careful arrangement. Sendak was good at this by now, he didn’t even need to write the positions down to decode the message- coordinates.

He moved the black knight into the corner of the board, signaling that the message had been received.

There was another delicate pause, and then the pieces danced once more. A date and time, three weeks hence. It was cutting it a bit close, but Sendak could manage to get away from the fleet for a little while. His last leave of absence had been four months ago, it was a little soon for another. Perhaps he could arrange to come down with an illness of some sort, maybe an injury. Something that would keep him in bed for a week or two while Haxus covered for him.

His mind was racing with possibilities even as he moved the black knight to a predetermined spot. An acknowledgement- _yes, I’ll be there._

The pieces moved again, shifting into the approximation of a game in progress, and Sendak couldn’t quite manage to wipe the smile off his face.

The next three weeks passed with painful slowness, and at the end of it he managed a convincing case of Tirolian Fever. Being the Commander of the fleet, it wasn’t difficult to sneak away without being noticed. He had access to all the systems, the security feeds, the ships. He had his own private hangar, his own unmarked fighter. He dressed in black armor with orange accents and felt as giddy as a child as he snuck away.

The coordinates had been for a planet outside Galra controlled space, Xunqron. It was a few days travel away, but during their last escapade Lotor had upgraded his fighter's jump drive so he got there within the hour.

He landed in a seedy shipyard and pulled on a dark hooded cloak as he wandered through the packed streets, looking for the place marked by the coordinates Lotor had sent.

It was a bar and he couldn’t help but smile. He walked inside, taking stock of his surroundings. It was crowded, full of smoke and rowdy patrons. It was just the sort of place Lotor liked to run his deals, his scams, his tricks. Sendak wondered what he was in for this time.

It didn’t take long to find Lotor sitting at the back of the room on a low couch with a few typically dangerous-looking companions.

Sendak’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of him and he let himself just _look_ for a moment. He looked good. He always looked good. But that first glimpse after too long spent apart was always especially sweet.

His hair spilled over his shoulders, there was a healthy flush to his cheeks and a certain brightness to his eyes. He was pretending to be drunk. He sat in a sprawl that was meant to look careless but was in fact carefully calculated to show off his strong thighs, his wide shoulders, to strain his button down shirt just enough that it fell open a bit further over his chest, showing off a perfect ‘v’ of purple skin.

Sendak had to drag his eyes away to take in the others, to try and prepare himself for what he was walking into.

Lotor was looking at the man sitting next to him flirtatiously, he had his hand on the stranger’s arm. The stranger said something that made Lotor throw his head back in a laugh, and then the stranger grinned and set his hand on Lotor’s inner thigh, close enough to his groin that jealousy flashed through Sendak like a hot knife.

He acknowledged it and let it wash over and through him, past him. He had no cause to be jealous, not anymore. Lotor was his- in mind, body, and soul.

That didn’t mean he had to like it. He walked closer and Lotor looked up. Their eyes met for a single electric moment and Sendak saw the truth for a split second- love, relief, excitement- and then Lotor’s eyes shuttered and he made an expression of shock verging on terror.

“Tannos!” he gasped, even as he shoved the man’s hand off his thigh. “I- Tannos please- it’s not what it looks like! Please don’t be angry!” he said.

 _Be angry,_ he meant.

Sendak bared his teeth and bent to grab Lotor by the upper arm, dragging him out of his seat so they were standing nose to nose. Lotor braced himself against Sendak’s chest as if to steady himself, clutching at his cloak.

“It looks like you’re running around behind my back,” Sendak snarled. He still wasn’t sure what game they were playing. Jealous lover? Perhaps this was deal gone wrong, or wayward assistant, or maybe it was something completely new.

“We were just talking!” Lotor pleaded. “Tannos- I swear-”

“Get your hands off him,” the stranger said, jerking to his feet.

Lotor’s hands tightened in his cloak, so Sendak didn’t let go. “Or what?” he challenged the stranger.

“Please don’t fight,” Lotor said plaintively.

Alright then. Sendak growled and punched the stranger in the jaw.

“Tannos!” Lotor cried out in shock. “Tannos- don’t!”

The stranger’s companions were jerking to their feet too. One of them came at Sendak and Lotor discreetly tripped him. He fell over into the table and broke it, the drinks upon it shattering as they fell to the ground.

Lotor moved to bend over the stranger that Sendak had punched, patting him down like he was checking to see if he was alright when he was in fact robbing him blind. Sendak dodged a punch and tackled his opponent in the stomach.

By now the commotion was drawing a crowd.

“Tannos! Stop it!” Lotor cried out hysterically, and when Sendak looked over at him he glanced pointedly towards the exit. Sendak grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him away, leaving chaos and destruction in their wake. Sendak pushed his way through the crowd and then they were outside and Lotor bit back a laugh before twisting out of his hold and taking off at a run.

Sendak followed, the familiar excitement of a chase through darkened streets taking him over until his heart was pounding. Lotor turned sharply into an alley.

“Give me a boost, love,” Lotor breathed out.

Sendak cupped his hands together so Lotor could step up and _heaved_ to toss him upwards. Lotor grabbed the edge of the building’s roof and hauled himself up and over, Sendak engaging his thrusters to follow. He lay down beside Lotor and looked at him while Lotor caught his breath and then started to laugh, silently.

“Darling,” Sendak whispered, stroking the side of Lotor’s face gently with the backs of his fingers. “Who the hell is Tannos?”

Lotor laughed harder. When he finally calmed and opened his eyes he was so radiant that Sendak’s mind went blank with joy. Lotor yanked him down into a kiss, a hungry thing full of longing. Sendak gave as good as he got, gathering Lotor into his arms. Everything went blank for a while, and when Lotor pulled back Sendak realized that somehow Lotor was on top of him.

“Tannos is my cruel master, obviously,” Lotor said, trailing his fingertips over Sendak’s face. “I’m his innocent apprentice, and he’s so awful to me. He makes me do such wicked things.”

“What sorts of things?”

“You know what sorts of things,” Lotor said with a sly smirk.

“What if I don’t?”

“Then I suppose I’ll have to show you.”

Lotor kissed him again, quickly, before moving down his body. He expertly opened Sendak’s armor just as much as he needed to in order to get access to Sendak’s quickly hardening cock, and then his mouth was on him and Sendak groaned.

“You’ll have to be quiet, love,” Lotor whispered wickedly. “You wouldn’t want to give us away, would you.”

“Bastard,” Sendak said fondly, and then had to press his fist to his mouth so he wouldn’t moan when Lotor sucked him down again. Lotor’s mouth was hot and he knew just how Sendak liked it. Sendak had expected him to tease, but instead Lotor seemed hungry for it, utterly merciless. It wasn’t long before he had Sendak spilling in his mouth and that was probably for the best- because they were on a roof, and there were men searching for them.

Lotor pressed a fond kiss to the tip of Sendak’s softening cock before carefully tucking him away and moving to lie next to him.

“I missed you,” Sendak said.

“I missed you too,” Lotor whispered.

There were footsteps below, vague shouting. Neither of them paid it any mind.

“How are things on your end?” Lotor asked quietly.

“As well as can be expected,” Sendak said, taking his hand. “The Commanders are understandably… jumpy about discussing contingencies. But I’m building a base that will support me at the Kral Zera when it comes to it.”

Lotor smiled brilliantly and Sendak leaned in to kiss him, tasting himself on Lotor's lips. It was heady.

“How are you doing?”

“Well,” Lotor said with a sly smile. “The man you punched-”

“Which one?” Sendak asked dryly.

“The first one,” Lotor laughed. ”Horak. He's been trying to seduce me for a while now. He wants me to steal my master’s schematics and run away with him. I've been very reluctant.”

“I have a feeling you're about to change your mind.”

“How could I not? Confronted with such a brutish display as tonight? Master Tannos is so terribly volatile, I'd be much better off with Horak.”

Sendak smirked, waiting to hear what Lotor was really after.

“And then I'll deliver him and his entire fleet into the hands of the Golden Raiders, a rival pirate fleet. And in return I'll have the loyalty of Queen Zarah Khan.”

“That's four pirate fleets in your pocket.”

“Five,” Lotor corrected. “You always forget the Comet Riders.”

Sendak rolled his eyes. “Two women and a robot hardly count as a fleet.”

“They count,” Lotor insisted. “Come on, let’s go sabotage Horak’s ship while he’s busy looking for us.” He brandished a small datapad that he must have stolen from Horak in the fight earlier.

Sendak laughed and stood, following Lotor into the night.

Lotor had five pirate fleets, countless friends in high and low places, and Sendak’s slowly growing faction of dissidents on his side. 

Slowly but surely, they were winning the game of empires. Zarkon didn’t stand a chance.

  


_fin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Example Claim:  
> Rum'ka - Heave the Ocean
> 
> Current Claims:  
> Kotat - Heave the Ocean - Devils_Official  
> Preajutus (aka the "yellow fruit", a bit of a sneaky easter egg) - Phoenix - chiastica - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/186851068000/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Hime - AKA "King Hime" from - Waiting for a Different Dawn - bittersweetangstlord - [Prize](https://barbitone.tumblr.com/post/187745530660/ko-fi-society6-commission-prices-vary-ask)  
> Taleian Resin (aka "biofuel residue turned drug" a second sneaky easter egg) - Taleian Resin - chiastica  
> Trakia — Heave the Ocean - bittersweetangstlord

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr at [barbitone](http://barbitone.tumblr.com/) and pillowfort also at [barbitone](https://www.pillowfort.io/barbitone)


End file.
